Brady and Me
by Ria M Write
Summary: Audrine Worthington has a crazy,unrealistic life. Or that's what she thinks until she moves in next door to her old crush and meets his mysterious friends. Things seem to be working out for her and her crush, that is until a boy tells her he loves her.
1. I am Audrine Worthington

Audrine.

My name is Audrine.

Today my parents are making me move. I get to live in a new house. Moving isn't such a big deal for me, I mean I've already moved a total of five times. Alright, one was when I was a baby but I count it all the same.

This time we are moving to Washington State. My old house is in Connecticut so basically I'm moving across the country.

My parents were divorced but now they are remarried to different people (obviously.)

My father's name is Pierce Worthington. He's an astronaut. He specializes in UFO studies (kind of out there, I know.) That's why we are moving to Washington, he is researching some top-secret government stuff on a Native American reservation called La Push. Of course, this is not known to the reservation residents. His wife, my stepmom, is named Starey Worthington. She's a gardener and does landscaping for a living.

Now if you don't think my life is weird enough, let me start telling you about my mom's side.

My mother's name is Jane Moonstarian. Please, feel free to laugh. My stepdad is George Moonstarian. Ditto what I said before about laughter. Both my mom and stepdad are artists. They have been following my father around the country as his job demands. They aren't going to live on the reservation like my father and stepmom, instead they are moving into the nearby town, Forks.

I also have one younger sister. Her name is Sokanon. I can't even pronounce it right fifty percent of the time so we just go by her nickname, Soaki. Soaki is three years younger than me.

…Yeah, I know. My life sounds unrealistic. But I promise you, it gets _a lot_ weirder.

**Chapter One: The Boy Next Door **

_Audrine, Audrine, Audrine…_

I shook my head in shock and disbelief as I climbed out of my stepmom's black SUV. I can hardly believe myself.

I had been totally right.

Dazed, I walked to the back of the car and picked up a box to help unpack. I could not keep my eyes away from the light yellow house that stood next to my own. I climbed up the many steps leading up to my front door, still in disbelief. I walked inside my new house and instead of exploring I walked right back outside to get another box. About the third one in and I saw him.

And I thought I had lost it for sure this time.

I quickly changed my gaze to the box I was carrying for fear that he might see me. I finally made it to my front door and I freaked out.

I panicked for a moment then told myself to calm down.

_It's all going to be fine. Just act cool._

Right. Calm and cool.

I took a deep breath and stepped outside again. I looked in the direction of his yard and realized he had gone inside. My heart sank. So much for that.

I didn't see him at all again that day, although I did keep my focus totally on his house.

I slept in by accident the next morning and woke up around noon. I usually never sleep in _this_ late, unless it's on purpose.

And trust me, if I had woken up earlier I would have been sure to stay up so I could get another chance at seeing **him**.

I quickly jumped out of bed and tried to find a good outfit as quickly as I could. Thing is, if you know you're going to be seeing a boy it usually takes a lot of time to pick out the right outfit.

About twenty minutes later I was finally ready. I noticed there was no car in his driveway and my heart sank again. Looks like I won't be seeing him until later.

Bored, I slipped out into the back yard to kill time.

It was chilly out so I folded my arms and began to play a game of 'kick-the-rock.'

"Uh, hi, you must be my new neighbor." I heard a husky voice from the other yard behind me. I quickly turned around, caught off-guard.

"Uh…" I was staring at none other than him. I felt my face burn and turn a little red despite my efforts, "Yeah, we just moved in."

_Don't you recognize me??_ He was even bigger than I remember. And now he has huge muscles.

"Oh, that's cool. I'm Embry." His smile was the most brilliant white I've ever seen.

"Oh, um, nice to meet you, I'm…Audrine."

_Gosh darnit! Recognize me, you fool! Does he know? Is he just pretending?_

He shifted awkwardly,

"Are you going to start at the La Push High School, then?"

_Unfortunetly._

"Yeah."

"Awesome, I go there."

"Do you like it?"

He shrugged.

_Ugh…I'm going to have to say something…_

"Um…I think I know you from somewhere." I admitted.

"Yeah, I remember you." He admitted too, a little bashful.

I stood there awkwardly, mentally kicking myself for not having something to say.  
"So, yea, I have to go." He said, pointing over his back with his thumb. I saw another bronze, tall, muscular guy in front of his house, waiting for him.

"Oh, um, see you around, bye," I stammered.

He looked at me for a moment, holding my gaze,

"Yeah…bye. She you around, definitely," he turned to meet up with his friend. I darted inside and watched out my window (in a very stalker-like way) as they mysteriously disappeared into the woods.

_Gosh, I hope he isn't like a druggie or something…_

I had to remind myself that this wasn't a city in Connecticut, it was La Push, and there is nothing wrong with two teenage boys that look like they're on steroids mysteriously heading off into the dark woods.

_No, that's perfectly normal. _

A/N: I hope you liked it! Yes, this is actually a Brady imprint story, Embry is just sort of a lead in that turns into a conflict…you'll see. =)

I know her whole family is insanely random but it's going to add something to the story later…no, I won't have any UFOs show up XD

As for their names…well…I let my sister pick them and then I thought they were so funny that I didn't have the heart to change them. I only picked Audrine.

ALSO I in no way meant to diss or insult anyone from Connecticut, I love that state with all my heart so please don't take anything offensively. =)

-Ria M. Write

p.s. please review! 3


	2. I've Got Guts

Brady and Me

School is…well….school is what school is.

The only thing at all interesting that I can tell you is that I really don't know which school I'm going to enroll in for sure.

You see, darling, my lovely, intelligent, space cadet of a father wants me to go to the school on the reservation because it's closer to where he lives and he thinks it would be a really good experience for me to meet some of the La Push residents and maybe learn about their culture.

I try to tell him that most of them could care less about their tribe's legends but he disagrees.

Then again, _what do I know_?

My lovely, intelligent, innovative mother, however, insists that it is only right for me to go to the Forks high school, since I am not part of the Quileute tribe.

Part of me agrees with both of them…but at the La Push high school I get to stare at Embry all day. Which, by the way, is exactly what I did.

My second day of school I took the bus. At about 7:30 is pulled up to my house and I climbed in. I sighed in relief when I saw that there were two open seats. I took the one further back and plopped my back down, sliding in next to it.

The bus doors squeaked close and the bus drive started to pull away.

Then it jutted to a halt.

A few kids started to complain and I peered up, trying to figure out why we had stopped. The doors opened again and in two monstrous strides, Embry was on the bus.

The bus started moving again. I heard two girls behind me muttering something about how enormous (and very attractive) he is.

I bit my nails…considering what to do. Finally, I took a deep breath of courage and stumbled down the aisle and plopped down next to him. He turned to me in surprise.

"Hi," I said quickly.

"Hey," he mumbled, staring at me.

"So…yeah, I know you from my cousins."

He nodded awkwardly,

"Yeah," he seemed to wince, remembering something…

I took a deep breath,  
"Listen, I know it was awkward last time we saw each other," I was referring to a few years ago, "but, um, I would really like to be friends now."

Surprisingly, he smiled,

"Yeah, sure, cool."

I raised my eyebrows and smiled uncontrollably.

"Yeah, well, I'll just be getting back to my seat then." I stumbled back over to the seat where my bags were. He turned to smile at me once more before turning back to fiddle with one of his bags.


	3. Dating Embry

I'll admit, maybe I went too far when I asked Embry out.

I had just managed established a friendship with him. But, for me, that wasn't enough. Something about Embry deeply intrigued me. I have never been able to put my finger on it but from the moment I first met him (which I remember quiet clearly, by the way) I had always found him easy to be friends with. Like our personalities fit. Then it got awkward when my family started to tease us, with us being around the same age. And I would always turn bright red when he was around, that didn't help either.

And then we got so awkward that in an attempt to keep my cool I ever so gracefully (sarcasm) lost it.

But darling, let me tell you this:

It was not my fault he walked away.

He walked away from me right then (practically sprinted for the door) and now, roughly four years later, I come to find out that he moved away. He moved out of the state and to this godforsaken place people call La Push!

Really, Why?!

If I am to be honest, he fits in pretty well here. A total of four times I've seen him with two or three guys that look almost exactly like him, which is weird for me because I remember him as sort of an odd-ball compared to the rest of us (meaning my family.) I remember one time when I saw him (I believe it was the same day I lost my cool) I hadn't seen him in over a year and he looked so huge. In fact, at first glance I didn't even recognize him; I could have sworn he was in his mid-twenties!

But back to our easy friendship (prior to teasing.)

It's as if we were meant to be great friends. Great friends. I can hope that means we can one day be married!

The bell on the door in the front of the Forks diner sounded; a costumer. I strained to see over the sea of heads, spotting a dark tan body.

Embry!

Quickly, I hid my hands under the table. No need for him to see that ugly mess. I take the bad habit of 'nail biting' to its extremes.

We had chosen to meet in Forks since it was my mom's day and I'd be in Forks anyhow.

He turned, scanning the room and finally meeting my gaze. I let a warm smile spread over my face. He returned a half-smile; it looked like something was on his mind.

Shoot. I knew this would be awkward! Why did I ask?! Cool it, Me! You can do this! Just think before you act. Not such a big deal.

He slid gracefully into the seat in front of me. I was envious: Since when did he get so smooth?!

I have always been a bit too competitive with him.

"Hey, Embry,"

"Audrine,"

The waitress was already asking for our orders. I only ordered iced tea and Embry followed suit.

"So, how are you liking QTS?" Embry asked me.

"QTS?"

"Quileute Tribal School…the one you sort of go to…"

"Oh, right. I forget…About that, my parents have decided to transfer me to Forks High."

He looked up at me suddenly,

"Why?"

"Oh…just, I guess they think I'll fit in better." I have been the odd-ball at QTS, sitting alone on the bus, never able to start any real conversations with people. Somehow the change in schools should help…maybe there will be another odd one.

"Oh. Well, make sure you still hang out on the rez for the weekends, I'll miss being friends with you."

"Yeah," I nodded, "I'll be there."

Our date went pretty smoothly, we talked about random stuff. We didn't really agree on much, and yet we were so the same in many ways. I can't help but think that's a sign that we would make a great couple.

Embry's POV

I scanned the diner for her. I spotted her, her hands hidden under the table and a friendly smile playing across her light pink lips. Her hair fell awkwardly around her face, seeming to not match the rest of her. It was very frizzy and caught between being really wavy or almost straight. She absentmindedly pulled a strand behind her ear as I walked closer.

Am I lucky?

Am I lucky that a girl isn't scared of me?

I could never tell her my secret. She would have to figure it out. A loop hole Jacob found.

Plenty of girls like me. Maybe the difference is, I actually feel attracted to Audrine in a way that I can't explain. It's nothing like imprinting, more like…I don't even know.

But maybe, just maybe, her and I could turn into a real couple.

I felt hope awake deep inside of me. There was hope.

Audrine.

Saturday came and went. I had made sure to be in La Push for Embry but something came up and he couldn't hang out with me.

Sunday morning I was taking a walk when-out of nowhere- Embry came along.

"Hey," he greeted me with a smile.

"Hi," I smiled, trying not to sound as surprised as I was.

"Sorry I couldn't hang out with you yesterday, some stuff came up."

"That's fine," I shrugged.

"Really? You make it sound like you didn't want to hang out with me."

"I did," I reassured him.

"I hope you don't mind," he cleared his throat, "I've been telling people you're my new girlfriend."

My mouth dropped,

Did he seriously just say that!? YES! I'm his girlfriend, girly-girly-girlfriend! I sang in my head.

I let my mouth drop a little in shock and my eyes widened, smiling,

"Really?! So are we like 'dating' now?"

"It's official."

I'm not the type to faint, but if I was, I definitely would have. We continued walking. From the corner of my eye, I saw Embry trying to grab my hand. I tucked it in my jacket pocket with great haste. I could see his face but it didn't seem like that bothered him one bit. I got to the end of the street and turned around to head back towards my house. Embry stopped me,

"Hey, Audrine, I was a little hesitant to start dating you but…"

Why did he have to say that? Now I have to think of something!

"I'm glad you did. I really like you, Embry," I was staring up at him. Man he is tall. I felt myself turn pink as he leaned down towards me, a strange sort of (very attractive) look on his face. I pulled together my bravery and leaned up, trying not to bump noses.

We're gonna be kissing, gonna gonna be kissing! I sang in my head. I froze in shock when I felt his hand on my right hip, him still leaning down towards me. I quickly stepped away, out of his grip.

"No," I whispered to myself. Embry somehow heard,

"I thought you liked me, Audrine?!"

"I do. Sorry. Just…um…I have a thought: do you want to go out tonight?"

"Tonight?" He thought about it, "I'm busy."

"Soon, though?"

He looked at me oddly,

"If I say yes will you kiss me?"

"After two more dates," I promised, not willing to tell him why.

Truth be told, it completely grosses me out and irritates/annoys me to no end when someone touches me. I've kissed boys before, no big deal. But hand holding, ew! I have trouble giving my parents hugs before I leave the house. I can't stand it when my sister so much as pats me on the shoulder.

No, it was nothing to do with germs. I just don't like being touched. I have my bubble, you can have yours.

And something told me Embry liked sharing bubbles. I'd have to stall this relationship.

It wasn't long before we did have our two more dates.

The first we went down to First Beach (on the rez.) I almost fell in the water (okay I'll admit, it was on purpose. I wish I had brought a bathing suit) but Embry grabbed my arm to keep my balance. I absolutely did not like his hand (which oddly felt like it was on fire) on my arm and flinched away from him as quick as I could.

From what I hear around here, Embry definitely doesn't understand personal bubbles. Especially not with his girlfriends. I'll have to get over my dilemma before he dumps me.

Our third date was…I'll admit, a little weird. Embry met my sister, Soaki, for the first time since years ago before he moved. Well, actually, I asked him why he moved here and he corrected me that he had actually only been visiting some family when I would see him. He had apparently lived in La Push all along.

Then, after they had a short and awkward conversation, Embry was stopped by my stepmom, Starey, and she had Embry and I help her with planting some flowers that she had just bought early that day.

THEN, my dad stopped Embry and started asking him random questions until they were having this conversation about fishing that I couldn't follow. I didn't even know my dad knew how to fish.

Finally we got fifteen minutes alone before Embry ran off shouting something about how much he likes me and how he can't wait for the next date. He is always running off to his job.

That's it! I'm going to get a job. Gonna get a job, job, job!

"Hm," Soaki examined me, coming up from behind me while I stood in the backyard, still staring at the spot in the woods Embry had just leapt off to, "And you always swore you didn't like him."

I huffed,

"SO?! I'm allowed to like him now, aren't I?!"

"Jeez, don't be so touchy. Mom just called and she wants me to tell you that you'll be starting Forks High tomorrow."

"We'll be starting Forks High." I corrected her.

"Nope," Soaki smiled slyly, "I get to stay in La Push."

I rolled my eyes,

"You do not. Nice try."

Soaki sighed in defeat,

"Just don't beat up on me, kay? You'll be a nice senior and I'll be a nice freshman."

"Sure you will," I didn't believe her, "I'm upset because I won't be going to school with Embry anymore."

Soaki looked shocked,

"He is still in school? He looks too old."

"I think he is. Held back? I guess he misses a lot of school. I wonder why he doesn't just drop out all together," I wondered.

"Girls?" Soaki asked, implying that maybe Embry was only in QTS for the dates. I nodded, agreeing,

"Probably," I sighed.

The first thing next morning, I got a call from Embry. I was driving to school when he called.

"Skip school?" I repeated him, not really sure why I was actually considering it.

"You gotta meet the rest of the pac-…_group_. My group of friends. You'll love 'em! Plus you did promise me after two dates-"

"Alright, sounds fun. I'll meet you in a sec at First Beach. Kay?"

I could hear the smile in his voice,

"See you there, Audrine."

It's not that I'm a bad student, I just think that missing one little day of school in senior year couldn't be that much of a lost. Plus, I get to meet Embry's friends.

And I had promised him a kiss…

I groaned inwardly. I wish I could take back that promise.

"Embry will be right back, he had to…well, anyways, he'll be right back." One of Embry's friends, Seth, told me. I was very good at learning all of his friend's names, despite the fact they all looked so much alike.

"Hey, where's Jared? Don't tell me he's still with Ki-" Stopping dead mid-sentence, one of the guys who I had not met yet stared at me.

"…Brady?" Another guy, this one I knew as Jared, joined us outside of Sam and Emily's house. (Sam and Emily are also Embry's friends.) Jared was holding hands with a girl who I could only guess was Kim. Kim looked…er...I'm going to be honest, she looked really awkward around everybody, and she knew them better than I did!

Jared kept looking from this Brady kid, to me, and back again. Finally Brady snapped out of his trance and came to sit next to me.

"Hi," he waved, smiling hugely in the most charming way, looking right into my eyes.


	4. Brady

Reading the following authors note would be much appreciated: *******

Why hello, haven't seen any of you in awhile…well, actually, you haven't seen _me_…ahem….anyways,

I edited the last chapter so check that out if you feel like it (might need to recap after the long break) and without further wait I give you 'Brady and Me' Chapter 4:

-_Ria M. Write_

"Er..." one of the guys I did not know the name of was tapping Sam rapidly on the shoulder, trying to get him to notice Brady's apparently interest in me. Everyone (expect Sam) was staring at us.

_Well this is weird…_

Sam turned around and the guy immediately pointed to us and began speaking to him in Quileute. Sam just sat there examining us.

I felt like I was some sort of interesting TV channel.

Ignoring all of them, I smiled widely at my new friend and held out my hand,

"Hi, nice to meet you, I'm Audrine."

Brady's smile (though stretched to its limit) seemed to grow wider. _Wow, is he charming or what…what should I do, Me, what should I do?_!

His eyes lit up as he took my hand to shake. I fought back a grimace at his burning touch. The only reason I even offered my hand was to dissolve some of the awkwardness.

"Yeah, and I'm Brady." I pulled away my hand and clasped my hands together, letting them fall to my lap. His smile changed to more of a friendly smirk as he watched my every move.

Although my eyes stayed with Brady, I listened as the rest of the group slowly started to talk again:

"God, man! Embry's gonna _kill us_!" I heard one of them say.

I wondered if this Brady was flirting with me?

_Oh, nooooo darling! There will be none of that! I'm EMBRY'S girlfriend. I worked too hard for this to…_

My thoughts trailed off as Brady began to speak again,

"So, you live around here now, huh? That's nice. Do you like it?"

Before answering I glanced behind him to see if Embry had returned. I inwardly sighed, he was still gone.

I smiled again at this new charming Brady guy,

"I like it, yes. Lots of forest and woods. I'm a hiker, you know."

Brady blinked, registering what I just said,

"Wha-Whoa, whoa, whoa," he held out his hands in sort of a 'pause' gesture, "You're saying you _walk around these woods alone_?!"

"Uh…yeah? Is that like a problem or something?"

Brady's face fell and he dropped his head into his hands,

"No, no problem," he said rubbing his temples like he was working through some sort of dilemma. His voice sounded like someone had just punched him in the stomach. I raised my eyebrows.

"No, just go- look, I promise you they won't bite your head off. _Yes_, I PROMISE. Just _go_." A male voice said behind me. I turned so see a red-faced, anxious Kim stumbling towards us, with Seth watching her. I moved over on the log so she could sit down next to me. She smiled a little at us nervously and sat down.

"Hey, where did Kim- SETH! Why the hell-?! …No! If you're so worried you can deal with it yourself!"

I heard someone (Paul I think his name was) snicker in the corner at Jared's outburst. He too was sitting with a girl.

"I'm fine, Jared," Kim spoke, barely audibly. Jared stopped arguing with Seth and sent her a look of apology. She looked away and then back at us.

Everyone was louder now, absorbed in their own conversations. That's not to say I didn't notice that they kept glancing at us every few seconds.

"Hey, Brady." Kim greeted quietly, then she looked at me and held out her hand in an awkward gesture of greeting, "I'm Kim…Jared's girlfriend…" I glanced over once quickly at Jared was watching us carefully.

"I see," _How weird. Jared is rather…obsessed? Overprotective? Jealous?_ Any of the words seemed to apply. I shivered _I don't want a boyfriend like__that__. Darling,__I'm__the only one who is allowed to be obsessed._

We quickly shook hands, each pulling away very quickly afterwards.

"Uh, er, Brady?" She asked, trying to get his attention. It was then I noticed he was staring at my hand. He snapped his head up to look at Kim,

"Oh, hi, Kim. What's up?"

"Maybe you should come inside with me and help me…er, with…um…" Kim seemed at lost of words.

I turned and saw Jared and Seth were watching her anxiously.

Brady stared at her for a moment,

"…No, that's alright," he began cautiously, "I think I'll just stay here?" He sounded confused. I heard the sound of someone slapping someone and scanned the group only to find Seth with his hand on his forehead in frustration. Everyone else looked annoyed and anxious as well though they kept their conversations going.

Kim glanced over to Jared with apprehension and he shrugged. She turned back to Brady and sighed once quickly,

"See you later, then…._thanks_, Brady," she added the last bit with sarcasm and bitterness. I was surprised she even had it in her. She got up from her seat and jogged back over to where Jared was sitting across the yard. I turned back to Brady who looked a little confused. When he met my eyes he smiled his breath-takingly charming smile again. I smiled back, not quite as hugely, however.

_Okay…seriously, where did Embry go?_

"Hey, do you know where Embry went?"

Brady nodded, his smile decreasing a little,

"He went to check out a few things."

"What do you mean? How much longer will he be gone for?" I purposely allowed my voice to portray how quickly I wanted him back.

Brady's smile all but vanished.

"I mean he is making sure everything's alright and he should be back soon." By his tone of voice I was surprised he even answered my questions.

Just then someone cleared their throat next to us.

I peered up to see Jared throwing daggers at Brady with his eyes before smiling at me. He looked back and forth between Brady and Me.

"I, _well_," he sent Brady another look, "came over here to tell you the food is ready and also to serve as a warning that this conversation shouldn't go too far." Jared's voice turned into a whispered sneer, keeping his gaze only on Brady half way through.

"No. Go mind your own business," Brady whisper-sneered right on back.

Jared rolled his eyes, looking exhausted.

"I mean these questions may get out of hand." He glanced once at me and I smiled not knowing what else to do. _I thought Embry promised I would love his friends?_

A look of realization crossed Brady's face and he quickly whispered back in a frantic, apologetic tone,

"I'm so sorry, I didn't even realize I was answering- Ugh!- I just, I can't-This girl," He glanced at me once and I wondered if they realized I could hear them.

Jared muttered something about understanding before turning away with his head down.

Brady got up,

"I'm going to get some food," he smiled at me. I didn't want to be crowded in the little house with _all_ of those people (talk about bubble invasions) so I quickly suggested,

"Do you mind getting me one too?" I used my bestest, friendliest, nicest voice and even batted my eyelashes- a little. I _really_ didn't want to go in.

Brady nodded so many times so quickly I though his head would go flying off and his smile was bigger than ever as he sprinted inside to get the food.

"Wow, this place _is_ weird," I muttered to myself, kicking a patch of dirt with my shoe. A moment later everyone was back outside with their food.

Brady came back over to our log _(Yes, Darling, I know…'our' log…I can't help it, though, it really is 'our' log…not in a romantic way, of course just…)_

He handed a plate of food to me as he plopped down, smiling so widely. He was beaming with pride. I could picture him saying: 'see? See?! I got your food! Aren't I sooo amazing and special?!'

_Good little doggy, now go fetch me some soda!_ I laughed at my own joke.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, thanks for the food."

I tell you, by the look on his face you would have thought he had to jump over viscous, hungry alligators while juggling lit torches. He was just so proud to have brought me that plate of food!

He stood back up and bowed low, facing the ground and everything,

"Anything for you, my highness," he said in a very good 'servant-of-the-evil-witch' impression. He looked back up and smiled at me as I started cracking up hysterically. I heard Kim and maybe someone else also giggling across the yard.

_Ha ha! I bet Jared will be a little jealous of that!_I don't know why but I felt as if Brady was _mine_.

_It could be the way he looks at you; like he's yours for eternity! DUH, Me!_

"Thank you, darling," I said in my sweetest queen impression. Brady chuckled and sat down again.

But I could feel it. The change in the air. I knew something big was coming. As I turned to glance over Brady's shoulder, he planted a swift kiss on my cheek. My mouth dropped open but too many things were happening just then for my thoughts to actually register it all.

As Brady kissed me he whispered,

"I love you," before pulling away, leaving my cheek rather warm from his burning skin.

Another thing that had happened as Brady kissed me was that Kim, from across the yard –who had apparently been watching us- started shaking Jared's (Jared had not been watching us due to that fact that Brady was also charming _his_ girlfriend XD) arm to get his attention saying, "Jared, _Jared_!" anxiously (I'm sure this was because Brady had just kissed me)

AND, the one that truly sent my heart flying at a ridiculous rate,

Embry had seen Brady kiss me and was now _running_ at a _ridiculous_speed towards us. His look could freeze over all of hell; it certainly sent me running!

Upon Brady's confession I sprung out of my seat, eyes locked in horror at Embry's murderous expression. I backed up quickly from Brady, moving towards the edge of the yard. Embry was close now.

I think I was the only one who saw Embry running because when he lunged at Brady, everyone seemed to freeze in shock. Even Brady had had his eyes locked on me. He had kept asking me what was wrong, thinking it was his kiss and words (_Not that they really were good news either, darling!)_

It was odd, weirder than everything I've seen yet.

One second I saw the ferocious Embry, the next I saw a ferocious wolf. The wolf had wrestled Brady to the ground. But it wasn't Brady anymore. Yet again, there was a wolf.

I hadn't realized I was shrieking until my throat started to hurt. I just shrieked louder.

_What the freakin hell?!_

I shrieked and shrieked as more wolves appeared. Guy after guy was exploding into a furry mess and so did one of the girls I met, Leah. Soon tears were rolling down my eyes as the pain from my throat and my freight consumed me. I turned away from the fighting, I couldn't watch.

Kim was by my side, she and a couple other girls were shouting at the wolves. Kim was shouting about irresponsibility and also pleading Jared to not get hurt.

_Why are they so calm?! Wha-WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?_

It turns out I accidently screamed my thoughts to Kim who had grabbed my arm and was trying to restrain me from running anywhere. Trust me, I wasn't going _anywhere_ until I knew those things wouldn't follow me.

Kim shook her head, all her shyness gone,

"No, you don't understand!" She shouted over the _ridiculously_ loud growling and other wolf noises, "That's them! They are werewolves!" She tried to get me to believe the stupid story but I wouldn't have it.

I bet that Brady kid fed me some weird mushrooms or something and now I'm having weird hallucinations.

"Imagine when I wake up what they'll think of this story!" I shouted back at her. She frowned,

"Seriously!" She shouted back, "C'mon, we need to get out of here!"

It was then I noticed there was a little girl among us. She looked two, three, maybe even four. She was crying and kept calling for some guy named Quil…oh wait, didn't I meet a guy named Quil?!

Anyways, Emily was holding her.

Emily looks flustered but she wasn't yelling at the wolves. The girl (she was older then me) who had been sitting with Paul earlier _was_ yelling at them. She was shouting at someone called Jacob and also at Paul.

Then there was a girl with her arms crossed standing as far away from the wolves as possible and she had a pout on her face. She looked annoyed with life. Right next to her was a girl I believe had been inside earlier. I couldn't tell her age but she looked around maybe...um…twelve?...seven? It was hard to decide but she was drop-dead gorgeous. I was a little envious.

"Let's get out of here!" Emily called. The girls nodded and Kim pulled me along. I had stopped shrieking but my tears would not hold in my eyes, they just rolled on down my cheeks like I was some sort of waterfall.

I kept my eyes away from the wolves as we all ran from the house. It wasn't long before Emily was cursing under her breath. Her yard was undoubtedly ruined.

"What the hell was that?!" I demanded as we stopped some while off at the edge of the woods. I was hoping we would go in; hiking might calm me down…

Emily and the little girl she was carrying moved away from us, Emily trying to calm the little girl down.

Kim, the beautiful girl, the girl with a pout on her face, and the girl who had been sitting with Paul, all exchanged looks. The one who had a pout on her face and looked annoyed with life stepped in front of me.

"It's Audrine, right?" She asked, not really being friendly.

"Yes," I replied, "And I want to know whatever it is you know…unless this is a dream in which case I want to-OUCH!"

I jumped away from the girl as she pinched my arm.

"Still think your dreaming?" She asked. I shook my head while I rubbed my sore arm,

"No."

Kim stared down at her feet and the beautiful girl reached up to press her hand to the older girl's (the one who had been sitting with Paul) cheek.

"Don't be so cold to her," the older girl told the mean, pouting girl. I don't think I like this pouting girl much. Not much at all. The mean, pouting girl shrugged,

"She needs to know soon anyways."

"Dee," the beautiful girl said. I gasped at her beautiful voice. It was like a beautiful chorus of bells, "please tell her our names."

The mean girl stiffened for a moment before glaring at me. I noticed she kind of looked like Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter movies. Except her hair was blonder and her eyes were slightly smaller. Oh, and she looked younger, too, though she must be only a few years younger than me. I guessed she must live in Forks.

"I'm Dee," she told me, "This is Nessie," she gestured behind her at the beautiful girl, "Rachel," she pointed to the older girl, "And Kim," she pointed to Kim.

"Yes, I know Kim."

Dee narrowed her eyes at me. I almost felt like I should apologize for living.

"Excuse Dee, she can be sour," said Rachel, pushing past Dee to stand in front of me. She sent Dee a look and Dee sent her a nasty one in return, "What you just saw was-"

"Let Brady tell her," Kim suggested. Dee rolled her eyes. But Nessie nodded in agreement,

"Yeah, she is his-"

"Shh!" Dee stopped Nessie. Nessie shrugged,

"It's not like she would know the meaning."

"Let me do this, Rach." Dee pushed Rachel back out of the way. She seemed to use Rachel's nickname in a sort of mocking tone. I'm guessing they aren't friends.

"And it doesn't matter who tells her now, she already saw," Dee told Kim with a little too much sharpness. I saw Kim's fist tighten but she didn't say anything. "What you saw, Audrey-"

"It's Au_drine_, AWE-DR-IN," I corrected her. She shrugged,

"I wish I cared. Anywho, what you saw was all of our lovely little boyfriends _phasing_ into scary werewolves," she used her hands and got really close in my personal bubble as she talked…trying to scare me I think. That or she just likes telling stories. It was actually sort of amusing.

"Kill the drama, Dee," Rachel ordered. Dee shoulders dropped as she turned her head to look at Rachel,

"Will you please just let me finish my story?" She asked annoyed. Rachel rolled her eyes and Dee turned back to me, looking more annoyed than ever.

"Anyway-ayzz, they are all a pack of werewolves who are here to protect us from the evil-"

"Ooh! Can I tell this part?!" Nessie jumped next to Dee and, without waiting for a reply, continued the story, "VAMPIRES!" The girl exclaimed, jumping really close to my face and showing her teeth like she was about to bite me. I stumbled back a little and Dee and Nessie started to crack up laughing.

"Good one," Dee told Nessie as she laughed, holding out a fist. Nessie hit fists with her, laughing the most musical sound I've ever heard.

At this point Rachel had left to help Emily with the little girl. Kim caught me watching them as Dee and Nessie tried to end their laughter.

"That's Claire," she said, "Quil's, er,-"

"Cousin." Dee stopped laughing, finishing Kim's sentence and becoming suddenly serious again.

Nessie nodded,

"And I'm Jacob's friend!" She exclaimed. And then she added with a smirk, "And I'm going to eat you!" She jumped towards be again showing her teeth and this time I jumped a little in surprise. The laughing started again, this time including Kim. I sighed.

"Vampires?" I asked, wanting to know more of this ridiculous story.

"Oh yes," Nessie said, still laughing "Some of them are really mean!"

"But others are our friends. Like Nessie here!"

I froze, staring at the beautiful girl,

"You're a-a _vampire_?!" I asked in disbelief. She nodded,

"Half vampire, really. My family is friendly, though."

"So…you mean one of your parents is a human?"

_This is ridiculous; I need to get some help._

She shook her head and pressed her hand to Dee's cheek. They laughed louder, yes, Somehow Dee and her were _stilllllll_ laughing!

"I.." She tried to talk but she was laughing so hard, "My mother _was_ but not anymore!"

"So do you…drink people's…blood?" I asked the dreaded question. All laughing stopped.

"No. I'm a vegetarian vampire human thing! I can get human food too, actually, but, er, not to be rude but…its disgusting." She stuck out her tongue and Dee laughed again. I'm telling you it was like watching two six-year-olds after feeding them a few pixie sticks.

"Does your family drink human blood? Wait-what's a vegetarian vampire?"

"We only drink the blood of animals."

"But not wolves!" Dee added on as a joke. They started laughing hysterically again. I started biting what was left of my nails.

"And yes, my family is all vegetarian too. You don't have to worry about the human-eaters because that's what the pack is for. They'll protect us!"

"So this is all really happening right now?"

"You're taking this awfully well. I thought there would be more screaming." Dee admitted. She seemed nicer now.

"Well, if you had my crazy life- you'd understand. I hear absurd things all the time."

"Care to elaborate?" Nessie asked curiously. I shrugged,

"Well, don't tell anyone but…my dad works for the government as part of a secret sector specializing in alien studies, especially UFO sightings."

Dee burst out in laughter right off the bat. Nessie's jaw dropped for a moment before she joined her. Kim giggled a little.

"It's true." I assured them, also laughing a little. "…Can I go see Embry now? I know he thinks I cheated on him but I really-"

"I think you won't be able to fix this, Audrine." Kim told me honestly, she looked like she felt bad for me.

My heart started racing.

"Woah, calm down, Audy!" Nessie said, giving me the strangest nickname I've heard yet…oh wait-, maybe 'Nessie' would beat 'Audy'…

"You mean he won't forgive me?!" I asked Kim, in panic. _I can't lose Embry! Not now! NO!_

Kim shook her head, looking down sadly,

"Something like that…" she sighed, "Audrine, he is definitely going to dump you."

I felt the horror show on my face.

"But-..I-…_Why_?!"

"Brady," Dee shrugged simply, she was staring at her shoes. Pain was present in her voice though I noticed she was trying to hide it…and were those _tears_ in her eyes?

_Brady? But, if I just told Embry I don't like Brady…won't that fix everything?! Won't it?!_

I wondered if something similar had happened to Dee, the way she said it was…well, I could imagine that something bad could have happened to her.

I shivered, these werewolves made some weird boyfriends.

Okay! Well, I updated! Pllleeeaaaaassssseeee review. Have any favorite lines?

More reviews, faster I update and as you know, I update pretty darn slow with this story so reviews would absolutely help…

THANKS FOR READING!

Now reeeevvvviiieeeewww!

hehe, almost forgot! Another thing you could mention when you're reviewing is what you think about_Dee!_

Kay, thanks,

-Ria M. Write


	5. Walking with Brady

"Sorry you saw all that," Jacob, the hugest of all the guys said as he scratched the back of his head in awkwardness, "Embry got a little…upset and that's what happens when we get...er, _upset_." With him being so big and tough it looked weird that he was all uncomfortable just talking to little me.

Nessie giggled next to me and Jacob's eyes met hers. I could tell he was trying to hide a grin after he was hers.

The whole _'pack'_ was spread out in front of us, filling the ruined lawn. When we had first returned (Jared had come to get us) my eyes had widened at the sight of them. There were definitely more than the original eleven or so I had met when I had arrived. It looked more like a pack of twenty!

Standing a little in front of the rest was Jacob whom I had just met. He was the biggest and-dare I say, - _scariest_ of them all. His muscles were…beyond description. I realized now he must have been the huge russet wolf I had seen when they were fighting before.

Close behind Jacob was Sam, Emily's husband. He looked calmer than Jacob. The rest of them were in a sort of line behind them, reaching from the houses' small back porch to the woods on the opposite side of the yard.

I was able to pick out some of them but there were still about five or so I believe I'd never seen.

They all looked so much alike they could be siblings. I didn't spend long examining them too carefully, instead I found Embry. He was standing with his arms crossed looking straight down at the ground, his eyebrows furrowed in anger and irritation. Three huge, tan people away from him was Brady who wouldn't look away from me. I tried not to meet his eyes, I don't know if I could manage to smile at him.

"They told you?" Sam asked me. Both Jacob and him also kept a near constant gaze on me, examining me like I would run at any moment. I realized my eyes were still wide and I had a look of shock on my face. I composed myself and smiled, talking to Jacob (who seemed a little more friendly than Sam,)

"Kim and them"-I motioned to the girls standing with me- "Explained that you are all werewolves."

Sam nodded at the same time as Jacob._ Weird…_

"Anything else?" Brady piped up. Sam shot him a look but Jacob just waited for my answer.

"Uh…Oh, yeah, and about you protecting everyone from vampires." I can't believe I had almost forgotten that part. I glanced at Nessie who looked like she was thinking about something.

Jacob looked at me as if he wasn't sure what I meant. Maybe there was more?

Jacob looked at Nessie again who skipped over to him. Everyone watched silently as the girl reached up and pressed her hand to Jacob's shoulder (I don't think she could reach higher unless he bent down…)

After a moment Jacob nodded and Nessie's hand dropped down to intertwine with his figures. They were holding hands…

It was then I started thinking. _Everyone with me is paired up…Rachel must be with Paul, Nessie with Jacob, Kim with Jared, Emily with Sam,…And Dee did say 'our werewolf boyfriends' so she must be with someone too…_

_Even if it's not a 'dating' sort of thing maybe its some sort of wolf thing. Like, territorial. They can't share. So when Brady kissed me Embry didn't want to share and exploded…_

A look of understanding crossed my face.

Jacob-who had been talking quietly with Sam during my little epiphany- turned back to face me,

"This is a secret, you understand that, right?"

I looked over his shoulder at Sam who was almost glaring at me. I winced slightly.

"Sorry again," Brady mumbled loud enough for me to hear. He looked genuinely apologetic.

"I'm fine, I understand. I'm used to keeping secrets." I shrugged and some of the wolf pack members gave me a weird, suspicious look.

"It's getting dark; we can go start the bonfire now at the beach." Emily was quick to change the subject. Sam beamed at her with so much adoration I felt a little sick.

Quickly, the 'pack' started moving around, collecting various paper plates and such that now littered the yard.

"Qwil!" Claire reached out towards the group and I saw a guy practically _running_ over to Emily, scooping little Claire out of her arm and into his own.

Simultaneously, Kim and Jared walked towards each other, meeting halfway. I turned away but not before I saw them sneak a kiss.

The same thing with Rachel and Paul, Rachel jogged across the yard to where he stood, waiting for her. I actually found that sweet of him…

Sam and Emily were talking together on the porch before I even realized Sam had left where he had been standing next to Jacob.

I saw Dee mouthing something to one of the guys (I couldn't tell who) and then she walked over to the porch, standing next to Sam and Emily. Her arms were crossed and an angry pout returned to her face.

"Audrine?"

I turned, already knowing that I was going to see Brady. He smiled at me, his eyes sort of sad, though. I blinked, not responding. "Are you okay? I know this is kind of a lot to handle…"

"I'm fine. Like I said before, I'm used to keeping secrets."

He nodded. I felt sort of bad, he _was_ being really nice and I wasn't even sparing him a smile.

"You should go help clean up," I suggested. Then I realized the others had already finished. That's what happens when there is _so many_ of them!

He smiled as he noticed my observation,

"How about I walk you down to First Beach?"

I smiled and nodded, his charm was winning me over. Suddenly, I felt shy. FYI, that's rather unusual for me nowadays.

As everyone either got in a car or started walking to First Beach, I quickly scanned the large group again for Embry. I saw him standing in the corner, looking very depressed. He was watching us. When I met eyes with him he smiled at me weakly. I smiled a small smile back, trying to tell him with my eyes how confused I was and that I felt bad and how I and no idea what to do.

I think my theory is right. That means that Brady stole me from Embry, like I'm some sort of possession. I wanted to feel angry at this sort of 'usage' of me but I kind of guessed it was a wolf thing…like instinct they couldn't control.

Embry lost. But why don't I get a choice?

_Darling, I need to clear all this up with the other girls. I need to talk with Kim. _

Brady and I started walking down the street. I noticed that Embry stayed.

Everyone seemed to avoid Brady and I, like they were giving us space. I hoped that once we got to the beach I wouldn't be obligated to stay with him the whole time. _Now it makes sense why Jared is so possessive about Kim! He like 'owns' her from the rest of the pack! How weird!!!! I think I might just want out of all this…_

"How are you today, Audrine?" Brady asked me. He was examining my face with a strange look of content on his. I inwardly shivered at the creepiness.

"Uh, I guess I'm okay. Hey, so do you all skip school often?" I questioned. He looked at me strange,

"…Embry is making you skip school?" I don't think he liked that very much.

"Well he isn't _making _me. It was sort of supposed to be our third date-" I cut off when a scary looked crossed Brady's face. I think it was some sort of extreme anger though I really couldn't tell. Brady shook his head, his face changed to blank and he looked away from me for a quick moment,

"We aren't skipping school, Audrine," he explained to me, "well, some of us don't even go to school but today there was a day off, anyways."

I hit myself in my head,

"Stupid me! Of course! I should have remembered! Soaki was so excited to get the day off!"

"Who's _Soaki_?' Brady asked, with disapproval in his voice.

"My sister," I said defensively.

"Oh. Why 'Soaki'?" He questioned further.

"It's her nickname. My whole family has weird names."

He looked at my strangely, maybe he thought I was making it up?

"Well 'Nessie' is a weird name, too." I reminded him bitterly.

Brady nodded, all of the strangeness he saw in me was suddenly gone,

"You're right, Nessie is odd. It's her nickname. Her full name is Renesmee…by the way, I really like your name, Audrine." He said a little more bashfully.

I smiled,

"Thanks, Brady. So are all werewolves so tall?!" I reached my hand up, trying to touch the top of his hair. He ducked a little so I could.

"Yup!" He said cheerfully as I patted his head. I couldn't help but think that his smile was because I was touching him. What a weird kid.

"Wait- you said before not all of you go to school? How old are you?!"

He shrugged,

"Well, you know that being a werewolf is hard so we can't focus on doing both. Jacob gives some of us only a little patrol time- like the really young ones. They are still in school. There are so many of us now we don't need everyone just for one little vampire intruder."

"Oh," I nodded, "But again, _how old are you_?"

He shrugged again, smiling shyly and looking down at his feet.

"Hello? Earth to Brady! Your age, please?! I really want to know!"

He looked back up at me at examined my eyes,

"I'm fourteen." He spilled quickly. My mouth dropped. _No way…_

_OH MY GOD I'M A PERVERT!_

"I'm almost fifteen!" He added quickly, anxiously after seeing my expression, "Plus physically I'm like twenty something so my age really is no big deal-"

"Chill," I commanded him, trying to shake off my shock and act like I didn't care, "We can still be friends." I wanted so badly to emphasize the '_**FRIENDS**_' part.

His smile returned,

"Thanks. I really like being your friend."

"We've know each other an entire day…not even!" I countered.

He shrugged,

"I still like you…you're a good friend and a really nice girl."

_Aw…I think he is trying to be sweet?_ _Darling this is going to be so awkward unless he cuts this flirting!_

"Yeah…um, Brady, I really do mean just _friends_. You get that, right?"

He frowned,

"You don't still like Embry, do you?"

"What's wrong with Embry?!" I demanded, defensive again.

"He just…isn't you're guy. I mean I'm fine with being just friends with you but really Embry doesn't want to go out with you anymore. I swear its just-"

I pushed him away and sped up my walking paste. He was stunned at first but then he caught up within a moment,

"I'm sorry," he whispered, I thought he was going to start crying, "please, _please_ forgive me! You can date anyone you want I just didn't want you to get hurt, I really think you deserve so much more."

I looked into his eyes and my anger was lost. Not only did I want to forgive him, _I_ wanted to apologize.

I nodded, lost in his eyes.


	6. Laughing with Dee

_Thanks so much for the reviews! Please review for this chapter too =)_

_So sorry for the error last chapter! I can't believe I put 'bomb fire' instead of 'bonfire'! lol, I suppose that's what I get for talking on my phone and proof reading at the same time! Let me know if you see any other errors so I can change them though I did proof read this chapter a few times. Thanks! =D_

Embry's POV

**********FLASHBACK*****************

_No! No, no, no, no! _

I _finally_, _finally_ found a girl I really, really like and then Brady comes along and _imprints _on her!

I don't know how to explain the pain in my chest. It was like my heart was being walked on, clawed at, and stabbed all at once.

_Audrine's __**mine**__!_

I sprung at Brady.

It wasn't long before he phased and our thoughts were exposed. The other wolves at the party joined us, each taking sides at who should get Audrine. Most only pitied me but knew Audrine belonged to Brady. In fact, _all_ of them sided with him although no one attacked me; instead they were just trying to break up the fight. Soon the wolves who were on patrol united with us in the furry mess as well.

_Finally_ there was one person who was on my side, Katie. Katie Springs.

_*************flashback end***********_

I shook my head in frustration as I walked through the woods, my big furry paws crushing the forest ground. I was glad no one else was in their wolf form. Of course, it meant I would have to be extra careful and keep an eye out for any bloodsuckers but still, it was better than listening to sixteen thoughts along with my own. Talk about loud.

Audrine

Brady and I were the last to arrive at the beach._ And to think I met Brady here a few hours ago…_

"I'm going to go talk to Kim," I told him, trying to hint that he shouldn't follow me. He held my gaze for a moment, nodding. I sat down on the ground next to where Kim was sitting in Jared's arms.

No one said anything for a moment as we gazed at the burning bonfire. Then Dee joined us.

_I really am beginning to wonder who 'owns' her…I never see her with anyone!_

"Hello again Audrine."

"Hi, Dee." I leaned in closer so Jared wouldn't hear me, "Say can I talk to you, I have some questions."

Dee examined my face for a moment then looked at Jared and Kim.

"He can hear you, you know. They have super good hearing…and speed and strength. They're such cheaters!" She added as she stuck her tongue out at Jared who turned to face us.

I turned red with embarrassment,

"Oh. See! I don't know much about this wolf thing at all!"

Dee nodded,

"Yeah, I'll answer some stuff seeing as everyone's busy." She rolled her eyes as she glanced around the fire. I noticed that Nessie and Jacob were sitting together not too far away. Nessie's bronze hair looked beyond magnificent in the light coming from the bonfire. I tried to suppress my jealously.

I have already picked up that Dee and Nessie are friend while as it seems Rachel is closer to Emily and Kim is just sort of on her own.

"You coming, Kim?" Dee asked, her tone of voice made is obvious that she already knew the answer. Kim snuggled closer to Jared and shook her head. I don't think Jared would have let go of her anyways. Talk about _possessive_!

I followed Dee down the beach; we walked on along the water's edge. She told me not to ask any questions until we were far enough away that the nosey wolves wouldn't hear us.

"Dee!" A deep voice called. It was deep and husky, but still younger-sounded then some of the other's I'd heard today.

We stopped as three muscular figures sprinted towards us. To my surprise, Dee's face lit up and she waved 'hello.'

The three joined as, all guys, and one hugged Dee,

"Hey, buddy!" He said as he pulled her into a quick, friendly side hug. He was the tallest of the three and although he wasn't the leanest, the guy next to him had more muscle. She smiled widely,

"Get off me, Josh! If you wanted to hug me, you should have done so earlier!" She hit him in the arm. Dee looked very delicate next to the three huge guys. They were actually the smaller of the pack, I guessed they were younger.

"You looked sort of moody," The one next to Josh (the more muscular) pointed out, crossing his arms. All three were very friendly. Dee crossed her arms in bitter defeat; she _had_ looked pretty angry and pouty before.

The third looked at me and smiled. He was just a little taller than the muscular one and he was very lean though he most definitely had muscles.

"Hi, Audrine. We've heard so much about you it's nice to finally see your face!"

I smiled,

"Thanks…Embry told you about me?"

The first one, Josh, shrugged,

"We heard his thoughts."

"What?" I didn't understand.

Dee nodded,  
"Yeah, when they are in their wolf forms they can hear each others thoughts."

_Oh. Well, Darling, I guess that makes sense considering they can't talk…wait-Embry was thinking about me THAT much?!_ I felt even guiltier for hanging out with Brady. _Stupid, stupid me!_  
"I'm Alan," The third, leaner one said.

"And I'm Taylor," The other, muscular one said.

"And this is Josh," Dee said, obviously annoyed with Josh's presence, hitting him (the tallest) just above the stomach. He didn't feel a thing.

"Nice to meet you…" I looked only at Dee, "I have _so_ many questions about the pack!" I was hoping they would leave and let Dee and me be.

"We can help," Josh suggested. Dee looked at him, irrated, with a look that said, '_Really,_ Josh?_ Reallly_? You're going to bother me _that_ much?'

"So what's your first question?" Alan asked, interested.

_Where to begin…_

"So where were you guys before the fight? I thought there was only eleven or so of you?"

"No, there is more than _eleven_," Taylor said.

"Here," Alan put his hand on my shoulder and gently turned me so I was facing the direction of the bonfire. He pointed, "That's Sam, Paul, Jared, Jacob, Quil, Leah, Seth-Leah and Seth are siblings, -Brady-who I know you already know- and Collin. They are like the 'older kids.'" Alan rolled his eyes, "And then of course there is Embry who…is on patrol."

I ignored the awkward silence.

"Yeah, and then there's us three as well as Chris," -Josh pointed to the tallest of the young guys, a guy sitting close to Paul and Rachel-"Nate and Kyle who are brothers," Josh pointed to two very young looking guys sitting dangerously close to the fire, "…and finally Katie."

My eyes almost fell out of my head my eyes were so wide. _How could I miss another girl werewolf?!?_ Katie had a cheerful smile on her face and was playing some sort of game with the guy Josh pointed out to be Kyle.

"We're all are pretty young compared to the rest," Taylor admitted.

"Really? Younger than Brady?!"

Alan nodded,

"Yup. We first phased last year when a whole lot of vampires came to kill Nessie," I decided not to ask what _that_ was about, "We were _really_ young compared to when one usually phases for the first time. And girl werewolves aren't even in the legends! Leah thought she was a complete and total freak of nature, even amongst the freaks! But then Katie joined us last and it made Leah feel a little better except…well…" Alan looked uncomfortable, "Katie is lucky because she can have kids. Leah couldn't after she became a werewolf."

"That's awful…" I felt sorry for Leah.

"Yeah. Well, Chris phased first out of us younger ones," Josh began, "He is only twelve."

"WHAT?!" There was _nooo_ way! He looked _at least_ fifteen or sixteen!!!!

"Yeah, we know. Like we said, it's not supposed to be that way but things happen so…" Taylor trailed off.

Josh continued,

"After Chris it was me, Taylor, and Alan all on the same day. We're all thirteen. Then the next day it was Nate and Kyle at practically the same time. Katie was a few hours after them. Nate is twelve and Kyle is just eleven. But that's nothing because Katie is only ten."

"Katie?!? She looks seventeen!!!"

Taylor chuckled,

"Yeah, we know. You should see the guys who hit on her."

Alan and Josh both hit Taylor in the stomach but Alan was chuckling a little, too.

Dee giggled,

"So what are your other questions?"

"Uhh…oh, why does Nessie always put her hand on someone's cheek or arm? Like, what is she doing?"

"That easy," Dee began, "She's _showing_ them things. She can replay memories and images or even allow them to hear her thoughts."

I nodded,

"Neat. Is that like a vampire thing?" I guessed.

"Yeah. Some vampires have extra special gifts like that. Her dad can read minds!"

I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

"So Jacob's the leader of the, er, _pack_, right?" I asked.

They all nodded.

"But it used to be Sam who was the alpha. And for awhile there were two packs but then everything just sort of fell into place and we became one pack again." Taylor told me, but the look on his face showed things were a little more difficult then just _'falling into place._'

"Okay, one last question: are you werewolves really possessive or territorial or something? Because I've been noticing like with Nessie and Jacob and Jared and Kim that they are really possessive of the girls and-"

"They aren't _possessive_" Josh scoffed, sounding insulted, "They are _protective_. It's because they _care_ about them. "

"Well I think its ridiculous," I muttered.

"It is not! They are just keeping them safe and happy! There is nothing _ridiculous_ about it!!" Josh snapped, getting angrier.

"Calm down, Josh." Taylor elbowed Josh in the side, "She doesn't know any better."

Josh closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. I hadn't realized he was shaking until he had stopped.

"We'll get back to the fire now," Alan said, pulling the other two along with him. I turned to Dee as they sprinted away.

"Wow…they are all so young… What was with Josh just now? Why was he shaking?"

"They do that right before they phase. He was angry. You kind of hit a sore spot with him when you were talking about the imp- I mean the, er, couples…"

"Oh."

"So…what do you think about Brady? Kind of cute, huh?" Dee asked me, nudging me with her elbow. As we headed slowly back towards the fire.

I bit my lip,

"He's only fourteen."

"So? He's going to be fifteen in like, four days so what does it matter?"

"Uh, it matters because I'm _seventeen_ going on _eighteen_!" _DUH!_

"But he is a werewolf! There maturity level has nothing to do with their age. Come on, he _looks_ like he could be _older _than you! Plus he is mature enough to protect all of La Push all day from the evil vampires! I mean, seriously, Rachel is older than Paul and they still get along fine! I'm telling you, don't mind age because he is always going to be younger than you but you'll still always be perfect for each other." Dee's expression was caught between smug and frustrated.

"_What?!_" _WOAH, woah, woah!!!! Hold up, hold up!!! PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER?!?_ _Ummm………like, we JUST met. _

Dee covered her mouth as if she'd said too much,

"I'm sorry! I should keep my opinions to myself!" She apologized quickly. There was an awkward silence as I let it go.

"So how about you, Dee, are _you_ dating anyone?"

She didn't answer for a moment and then she started cracking up laughing,

"No, Audrine, I'm only _twelve_!"

_Darling, what is with all these people being sooo young?!?_

"Twelve?" I asked, sounding rather oblivious. I examined her again. I guess she _did_ look younger than I first thought. What tricked me was her height. She was almost taller than me! But her face defiantly looked young.

"Well, twelve-year-olds date, I guess." _Not that I suggest it…_

Dee shook her head,

"_I _don't and _I_ won't be dating any of _these_ clowns! Well, I might but it would have to be on a bet…"

I was still in shock that she was only twelve. Now I get why she was such good friends with Nessie, they don't have much of an age difference.

"Now old is Nessie?" I asked curiously.

"Uh, nine, I guess…I'm really more like thirteen seeing as tomorrows my birthday."

I sighed in relief,

"Thirteen I can see a lot better. But seriously, I though you were like fifteen."

"Yeah, everyone tells me I looked old for my age…well everyone except these guys. I look young for my age in comparison!"

I laughed with her as we approached the bonfire. It was starting to drizzle. _Typical!_

_**Yup! You** read correctly! SEVENTEEN werewolves! Or I guess shapeshifters if you want to get all technical =P _

_I reread the 'almost-battle scene' in Breaking Dawn just to be sure I had it right and sure enough, SEVENTEEN! Obsurd number of overgrown peoples walking around the tiny La Push res. Talk about hard to keep secret! Tho I guess Jacob was suspicious of them in NM so they were never really hidden anyways. _

_The ages are just as crazy, I know. But in BD Bella *did* say that they must be "**very, very**" young so I took that as younger than Brady and Collin who were supposed to be 13 when they first phased (if I remember correctly... *cringes at thought of getting that wrong*) so yeah, they are super young. But I guess its not too crazy cuz at least they are twins...well, Katie is JUST BARELY that. Oh and tell me what you think about another girl werewolf...I put her in cuz since there were sooo many vampires I didn't think it would that far off to have a girl another girl change. And about her being able to have kids: you see since she was physically maturing rapidly and is like 17ish now she would know whether or not she could and I'm allowing her to because I'm setting it up for another plot....I don't know, what do you think? Too far out there to happen?_

_Please let me know and review!!!! Oh, and I have been just guessing around with Nessie physically/mental age, I hope it sounds acurate considering it was supposed to slow down as she gets older! And yes, she still has a great vocabulary and is very intelligent but she's acting around the humans XD _

_Okay, thanks again for reading and pease _**_REVIEW!_** As all ff authors know, its like the best part of this whole writing thing; getting feedback!


	7. Soaki

Audrine

When Dee and I had reached the bonfire, Brady had asked if I had a coat. I didn't which wasn't good because I was only wearing a thin, gray, long sleeve shirt and jeans. And it was beginning to pour.

-------------------------------- ---------------- ---------------

It was morning. A strange morning, at that.

My head was broken. No, wait- that's not right- it was…_temporarily out of service._

I had a massive headache and I can only guess from what. It felt as if my very brains had been melted into liquid and were now swashing around in my head.

"_Oh_," I whined as I winced, sitting up in my bed and dropping my head into my hands. "Darling, this is bad."

A heard a yawn next to me.

"Good morning, sister. I've come to question you. Where were you after school from the hours two to _twelve_?"

I forced my head to turn, sighing at Soaki's makeshift bed (blankets and three pillows spread out along my floor.) Soaki herself was sprawled out on my desk across the room, blocking my view of the window. Her legs hung off one end of the desk while she propped her head up with her left elbow. She was scrutinizing me with a half-smirk, half-suspicious expression.

"_Twelve_? …How would you know when I got home?"

She motioned to her various blankets spread across my floor.

"I was waiting for you, obviously."

"Oh, was that it? I just thought you had big, bad scary dream and needed to be near your sweet older sister!" I mocked sarcastically. She glared and laughed at the same time.

"So what did you do with Embry yesterday?" She asked. I felt immediate guilt.

"Who said I was with Embry?" I mumbled.

"Oh, gee, you're right! I guess I just thought so because he _drove you home_!" Soaki pointed out.

_He did? What…why don't I remember that?_

"Sooo, what did you do?!?" Soaki pushed, thinking she had victory.

"Uh…I went to a bonfire with a lot of his friends and…that's it."

She frowned,

"That's not very interesting."

"I'm sorry, I forgot my life is your entertainment, I'll be sure to do something straight out of a Disney show today." I rolled my eyes and tried to step out of bed. I swayed a little.

Soaki giggled,

"You look drunk, Audrine."

"Why _thanks_."

"No, seriously…do you have hangover or something?" Soaki almost looked genuinely concerned. _Almost._

"No, no! Of course not!" _I just have a massive headache, can't remember things from last night, and I'm having trouble walking…Oh wait… _"What I mean is _I didn't drink_."

"Maybe someone put something in your drink?"

"Doubt it." That didn't sound likely. Not likely at all. _What's wrong with me?_ "Are you, uh, _sure_ it was Embry that drove me home?"

She nodded,

"Yeah, I watched him park your car in our driveway then walk over to his house. You looked a little strange even then, like you were really tired or something. But you did manage to unlock the front door and get into bed just fine…then again, you didn't notice me at all."

"The last thing I remember is around eleven thirty, sitting around the fire and talking to Kim."

"Who's Kim? A new friend?"

"Sure, whatever," I waved to show Soaki to let me think, "just shut up for a minute. Better yet, go away. This whole sister talk thing is getting awkward."

"No, I'm staying until you tell me what was going on."

That's when I remembered.

"Oh, yeah…I guess I was pretty tired because when I got in my car I hit my head." _Headache explained_.

"Then Embry came out of the woods and offered to drive me home. I fell asleep in the car." _Which is probably why I barely remember it._

Soaki sighed in relief,

"And here I was thinking you were a party girl. Okay, Soaki out." She grabbed her things and left me to my own confusion.

Stumbling downstairs, the doorbell rang.

I rushed over to the front door and yanked it open, trying to pretend that I wasn't still in my pajamas and my hair wasn't all messy.

"Hi, Audrine."

"Brady?"

"Can I come in?" He flashed his most charming smile and alls I could do was nod. "Nice place." He noted.

"Don't get any ideas." Soaki was with us now. Brady turned to see who had spoken.

"What?" I asked, confused with Soaki's comment.

"Don't rob us." Soaki clarified. I blinked, wondering where the humor was as Brady chuckled at her before his attention snapped back to me. I awkwardly ran my fingers through my hair, trying to make it look nicer. He watched me, totally interested.

"It's early," he said, talking to himself. I nodded as if it was directed towards me. All three of us stood in the awkward silence. I was hoping Soaki wouldn't leave me alone with him.

"…It's Dee's birthday today." I noted, my thoughts full of reasons he might be here.

Brady seemed to be lost for a moment, as if caught off guard. Then he smiled,

"Yeah. Dee's thirteen."

"Is she having a party?"

Brady shrugged. Then he sighed,

"Yes." He admitted, "Do you want to go?" His words seemed forced.

"I was just wondering what brought you here."

He smiled his charming smile again,  
"Well to see you, of course, my highness," he bowed again, just like he had yesterday. I wanted to laugh but another thought clouded my actions.

_Brady had kissed me yesterday. And told me he loved me. _

I had been trying to block those two things out for some time now but they seemed too big just to ignore.

He looked up at me from where he was bowing, a strange emotion in his eyes. He had expected me to laugh.

"I, uh, I just got up." _Wow, like that clears up everything. _

But he nodded in understanding, slowly standing up straight. I could imagine a dark, rainy cloud over his head. Perfect image of sadness and disappointment.

"Sorry," I squeaked as I rushed upstairs.

Brady

What's my problem? Can't I make her laugh again? Can't I just shed some light of bliss upon her?

I could do it yesterday. Yesterday I was fine. Yesterday it seemed it was going to be okay.

Today it feels broken. I feel broken. I must be dysfunctional if I can't bring some sort of warmth or happiness to my imprint.

I want her to be right. I want to be too young. Because then she would be right. And then, it would explain why things aren't working out today. Because I'm too young and don't know how to handle an imprint.

I imprinted. I'm not too young. I can love her. I know I love her. Let's say I didn't imprint. I'm positive it all would have come to be the same way it is now regardless. Because I would still have been attracted to her, still would have obsessed over her. Embry would still hate me. And Audrine's feelings would still be the same.

What's wrong with me today? I could make her laugh yesterday. I could make her happy yesterday. I could justify being around her yesterday.

Today, I'm just showing up at her door because I felt completely lost without her. And she thinks I'm weird.

I felt something rise up in my throat: failure.


	8. Destiny

**I just wanted to tell you about my new story I'm putting up called '7-Eleven.' It's a spin-off of this story and is mostly about Dee and her family. Go check it out and review! I want to know if it's any good or not. **

**Audrine.**

Dressed and all cleaned up, I mustered up all of my courage and marched downstairs where Brady and Soaki were having a stare down.

"Look, Audrine, I'm sorry about last night. I was way too forward." Brady's eyes were searching mine, hoping to find forgiveness. I suppose he had been beating himself up over my reaction.

"…that's fine. Will Embry be at Dee's party?"

"Yes."

"Great. Let's go!"

I don't know if I was trying to be mean by bringing up Embry but I definitely _felt_ mean and Brady looked pretty hurt.

"Well…I must warn you, it might be an awful party. I wasn't even planning on going…" Brady stated as we left out the front door. Soaki hadn't moved an inch.

"Why?"

"Well, it's _Dee_ and the _pack_. Never a good combination anywhere."

"She seems to get along with Josh."

"Yeah, she gets along okay with him." Brady admitted.

"What time's the party?"

"Late. Dee's busy all day with her family."

"So what do we do until then?" I asked, feeling anxious. I hadn't even realized until now that this would be my _second_ day of skipped school…

"…well there's the beach…"

I nodded, that sounded harmless enough. _Why does it feel like I'm going on a date with him?_

As we walked towards the beach, I decided to fill the awkward silence with some questions.

"Three more days till your birthday?"

Brady grinned,

"Counting down until the minute I'm fifteen," he looked eager to be older.

"I liked being fifteen. It's a good age." I felt like I was making small talk and it was a little awkward so I stopped. We walked in mostly silence the rest of the way.

--- ____ --- ____---____--- ___---audrinebradyaudrinebradyaudrinebrady__----____--______---___--

"Hey, look over there." Brady nudged me in the side as we sat down on a large piece of driftwood, "Do you see those people over there?"

I followed his beautiful- uh, I mean _interesting_ eyes to where a family was playing in the chilly ocean.

"What am I supposed to be looking at?"

"_Her_."

Oh? It was a _girl_ he was looking at? I'm not gonna lie, I feel jealous.

"Which one?" There were many girls in the family. The oldest was probably his age. That must be who he's talking about. "The girl wearing the orange swimsuit?"

"No, no, no." Brady turned my head to where a girl was sitting in the shade of a tree reading a book, wearing a green swimsuit.

"Darling, why her?" I asked softly, not sure why it had just slipped out. This must be how he feels about Embry…

"It's Dee." He explained, not noticing my apparent disappointment.

I snapped back to life,

"Dee? Really?"

"Yup. I bet those are her sisters. She never let any of us meet her family."

I turned away from Dee and examined Brady's face, relived that he wasn't interested in the girl. _I mean, it's not like I __**like**__him, it's just that he did say he loves me and…well…it would just be wrong for him to go and check out a girl the next day. Yeah, that's all._

Wrong. I was slowly realizing how handsome Brady was, on the inside and out.

"Then why is Dee friends with all of you?"

"She, er, _has_ to be. It's like…destiny."

"Destiny?" That's a whole lot deeper than just my theory on them being possessive…

"Yeah," Brady looked comfortable, "It's meant to be…And Audrine, you're meant to be with us, too."

"Meant to be with you?" I repeated, a little dazed.

He nodded, blushing.

"I-I _did_ mean what I said before, Audrine. I love you. Destiny is telling me that I'm meant to love you. You're meant to be with us too."

Something clicked. What Dee said before about Brady and Me being perfect for each other; she had known more than she let on.

"So-so…but-…is this like a wolf thing?"

"Yes. It's called imprinting."

I continued to examine his face, his words soaking in. _Meant to love me? What about Embry?_

_CLICK._

"Oh." My thoughts suddenly rushed out, "Jared and Kim, Jacob and Nessie, Paul and Rachel, Sam and Emily, Quil and Claire," I watched his eyes widen as I rattled off the pairs, "It happened to all of them, right? The werewolves _imprinted_."

Brady nodded. Then he took a deep, deep breath and said,

"I need you to tell me you're okay with this. I promise I'll keep everything from being awkward. You can even…date Embry if you want." He seemed insincere about the last part.

"You've been doing a great job of keeping thing from being awkward…Oh! I'm sorry, I don't know why I just said that out loud!" My hand flew up to hit myself in my head but his too-warm hand snatched mine before it made contact with my forehead.

"Don't hit yourself, I understand. I've been a bad soul mate…"

_If we're soul mates then I would accept you…_

"Does every wolf imprint?"

He shook his head,

"It's supposed to be rare. Somehow it hasn't worked out that way."

"Did…did Embry imprint on me?"

Brady looked down for a minute,

"I thought I explained. Embry isn't your soul mate, _I_ am."

A sort of anger formed inside of me,

"And you're not just making this up because your jealous of him? Just because I believed the wolf thing so easily? I'll tell _you_ darling that I'm not that gullible-"

"I'm sorry am I interrupting something?" A smug voice asked not even a foot away.

"You smell like wolf," Brady randomly stated to Dee. Somehow she had managed to sneak up on us.

Dee narrowed her eyes,

"_Duuhhh_! I hang around wolves all the time."

"Maybe you should stay away from Leah, she's rubbing off on you. Oh wait- I forgot. You're just naturally a b-"

Dee smacked the side of his head with strength I couldn't believe before he could finish.

"Ouch! Hey! That actually _hurt_!" Brady held his hand against his head in disbelief.

I felt bad for him and gently lifted his hand away from his head to see if Dee had left a mark. He looked fine.

Brady and Dee were looking at me with disbelief.

I realized I had just been _caring_ for him…hehe, _oops_.

"Go away, Dee. Audrine and I were talking." Brady's eyes were fixed on me.

"Yeah, I can _see_ that." Dee was once again smug.

"Happy birthday," I said, turning to Dee as I blushed under Brady's stare.

"Oh I wouldn't say it's been _happy_ but 'interesting' is definitely a word more suitable."

"What happened?" I asked curiously. She opened her mouth to answer but then she glanced at Brady and shrugged,

"I'll tell you later. Lover boy here has some words he'd like to share with you." She giggled, "Man is he going to be surprised when he hears about this morning!"

I slowly let my gaze switch back up to Brady's magical eyes.

No one said anything as Brady and I waited for Dee to leave us. She didn't budge, just stood there watching us with sparkling eyes and a smirk.

"Dee," Brady warned.

"Talk to you later, Audrine," Dee said as she turned to head back to her family. Then she added to Brady in a cold, threatening voice, "Bring her to my party."

I smiled at her as she left but then I had to face Brady.

"I'm not lying to you, Audrine. I would never lie to you, I swear. Just tell me how I can prove it and I will!"

I considered things. There really _isn't_ any other reason he would like _me_. I mean, I'm just an ugly girl after my old crush who believes aliens live on other planets!

"I'm not okay with dating you, Brady. That's going too far. You're too young for me and I need someone _my _age. I mean, you're a great guy and you're nice to talk to and I'm attracted to you but it's just that I _know_ you're too young for me."

_Woah, talk about saying too much_.

He smiled,

"You're nice to talk to too, Audrine. I really like you…a lot. Like I keep saying…"

I couldn't say anything, I was blushing more than I ever had.

He let go of my left hand that I had forgotten he had been holding ever since I tried to hit myself on the head. The warmth had felt comfortable and didn't bother me like I would have expected it to.

It didn't seem to matter what I had just said about me not wanting to date him. Nothing seemed to matter as his face inched closer to mine, lowering so his lips were right above my own.

I thought he would go ahead and close the space, like most would in his place. But instead his soft lips parted,

"Audrine?" He asked, no quieter than normal.

"Yes?" I said barely audible.

"Can I kiss you?" he whispered, like it would be a secret.

"Yes," I whispered back. _No! no, no, no, no, no, no, no! I meant no! nnnnooo! No! no. no. no. N.O. NO-O! Tell him, Me! Tell him no! You don't want to!_

He was moving his face so gently and slowly closer that his lips had still not joined mine when I had finished screaming at myself in my head.

I had just enough time to pull away when I did, whipping my head around so I was looking at the ground in the other direction, my hair flew into his face during the swift, quick motion.

Brady's POV

I blinked and pulled my head back, now gazing only at her fluffy, shoulder-length hair. My eyes fell to her left hand gripping the piece of driftwood in anxiety. Her nails were bitten down as far as they could go and the skin around them looked picked at and scabbed over.

She was a nervous wreck, no matter how well I watched her play it off. She was confident, maybe, but still worried. Always worried.

About what?

I would keep her safe, I wouldn't tell anyone if we had kissed, I could even pretend I don't know her, if she wanted to keep it all hush, hush.

I was very agreeable to _anything_ she'd like so why was she so nervous?

What sort of bubble had she created around herself?

I loved her when I met yesterday, the whole time I spent flirting with her had been the best time of my life.

And I still love her. Just _what _or _who_ was making her so…panicky?

I listened as she drew in a breath,

"I meant to say no. I can't kiss you. And you can't kiss me. I'm fine just like this, without us touching; just talking."

I cleared my throat, trying to get rid of the lump forming in it,

"I understand. I'll keep my hands to myself," I half-joked. I heard her cough, but I knew she was just trying to hide her laugh. I forced a smile as she hesitantly turned back around to me.

"Tell me about Dee. Who 'imprinted' on her?"

I bit my tongue. I didn't want to stab Dee in the back but I wanted to answer Audrine more.

"Dee's story is tough," I began slowly, hoping maybe she would change the subject, "it's a little like Leah's. Leah was dating Sam and then he imprinted on Emily. Leah's a lot like Dee, actually, except I feel bad for Leah as well…Dee really just needs to suck it up. She's so moody around all of us. You know, she found out about us by accident. It was decided that no one was going to tell her about us until she was older but then she got all nosey and TA-DA! Next thing you know we have to deal with her all day. In fact, it's not just her and Leah but it's Katie too. Katie's the youngest so we have to cut her some slack now and then but still she gets so cocky all the time. She's too young to really understand half of the serious stuff we explain to her, like imprinting, she just goes off on her own little idea of what we should do no matter _what_ we tell her. I keep telling Jake she's the perfect exception to his 'no-alpha-voice rule'. She _needs_ someone to control her. The girl's wild!"

_Great, now I'm all worked up about Miss Katie Springs._

Audrine nodded,

"But what's an 'alpha-voice'?"

"Oh, well, it's like an order that you _have_ to follow. Sam used to use it sometimes but Jake doesn't think it's right to control someone like that."

"So right now if Jacob came up to use and ordered you to get me a glass of water you would do it?"

I searched her expression,

"Jake wouldn't have to ask. If _you_ asked anything of me I would oblige."

"Really?"

"It's part of the imprint thing."

She looked down, looking uncomfortable,

"So if Jake asked…?"

"Well, we would have to be in our wolf forms."

"Oh."

-------_____-------------_________________--------------_____________----------_________---

Audrine's POV

I can't really remember what exactly we talked about for the rest of the day before the party. It was all random stuff, like the weather or TV shows. I think we also talked about school for a little while.

What I _do_ remember is when I dared Brady to throw me in the water. Big mistake. Soon we were both soaked and had to lie out in the sun to dry off before the party. He suggested we go back to get a change of clothes but I feared my stepmom might be home and want to know why I wasn't at school…

"Hiya, Audy!" Nessie greeted cheerfully as Brady held open the door for me. I stepped into the brightly lit house and out of the darkness of the night.

"Hi."

"I didn't know you and Brady were coming! This is spectacular! Dee's going to be so stoked!"

"She will?" Brady asked in disbelief, stepping in the house close behind me and shutting the door.

"I hope," said Seth as he leaped down the stairs. Brady chuckled and Nessie rolled her eyes.

"Now don't you worry your little werewolf head off, Seth. I'm going to _make sure_ Dee enjoys herself at this party. Thanks again for letting me decorate your place." Nessie said to Seth, patting him on the arm.

Seth nodded in response.

"The party in the living room?" Brady asked. I was hyper aware of how close he was standing next to me. Nessie kept eyeing us like she was expecting us to hold hands or something. It was kind of weird. She also kept sending me this 'knowing' smile. Except I have no idea what she 'knows'.

_She acts older than she is…much more mature…_

I pushed my pondering aside as the four of us moved into what I presumed to be the living room. It looked like a good majority of the pack was there. At least the younger ones along with Leah and Jared. I didn't see Sam or Jake anywhere. Nor any of the other older werewolves like Quil or…Embry.

"Hello," a voice said coolly from behind me, next to Brady. I turned my head to see who was talking. It was Katie.

"uh, Hi."

"You must be Audrine, I'm Katie Springs. The name's the game so don't forget it."

"Okay," I laughed nervously. _That doesn't even make sense._

"Get it? Katie _Springs_ like I _spring_. I know, I'm SO clever!"

_Yup, definitely a ten year old._

"Yeah, you like to _spring_ right over to my bad side," Brady muttered. I elbowed him in the stomach and smiled at Katie,

"Haha, that's funny. I _am_ Audrine. Audrine Worthington."

"Yeah," Katie face suddenly went to sympathy, "I'm so sorry what happened between you and-" she leaned in closer and whispered, "Embry. I was totally on his side, you know. Brady has _nnooo_ right."

"_Katie_ I'm RIGHT here!" Brady exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air in annoyance. "C'mon, Audrine, let's go sit down. I see a spot next to Jared." Brady tugged my arm once in the direction of where Jared was sitting alone on the couch. It was supposed to sit four but Jared and Brady took up so much space I would _just_ be able to squeeze in.

"Hey, Jared."

"Brady," Jared nodded, as Brady sat down. Jared look at me, "Hi, Audrine!"

"Hey," I said self-consciously as I sat down next to Brady. I was squished against him and the arm of the couch.

"Mrs. Clearwater here?" Brady asked Jared. Seth answered,

"At Charlie's."

Leah nodded,

"She's over there more and more. And when she's not there, he's _here_."

"Ooooh," Brady said, suggesting that there was something going on between Charlie and Mrs. Clearwater. Jared followed suit with suggestive cat call. Kim entered the room just as he was.

"My god, how much did I miss?!" she asked, her eyes widening at Jared's 'call' stepping around the many guys as she made her way towards Jared.

Most everyone was laughing.

"Nothing, baby," Jared assured her as she sat down on his lap. She looked at him suspiciously,

"I walk in and all I hear is you making some cat call…"  
"That was him appreciating Sue's good looks," Taylor explained, still laughing.

"Hey!" Seth threw a sweater he had been holding at Taylor.

Kim let out a loud laugh,

"_Reeeee_aly?" she asked in disbelief. She knew that couldn't be true. Even I knew that; Jared made it abundantly obviously his eyes were only for her.

Jared nodded as if he was going to play along only to give in and shake his head,

"Nah. I leave that sort of thing to _Collin_."

The room's laughter suddenly boomed. Brady didn't seem to understand, however.

"What?" He asked Jared.

"You haven't heard?! Aw, _man_ you have a surprise coming your way!" Jared said, completely cracking up. Kim was giggling and even though I didn't quite get the joke- the laughter was contagious.

Slowly, the laughing died down as Katie Springs wiggled her way into Kyle's lap.

"Are they… _together_?" I asked Brady curisouly, whispering as quietly as I could in his ear. He shook his head and leaned close to me to whisper,

"Nope, Katie's just a flirt."

Kyle didn't really seem to mind, or really _notice _for that matter. I had to remind myself they were only eleven and ten. I'm telling you they look _my_ age!

"So where's the birthday girl?" Brady asked Seth curiously. I can't believe I hadn't wondered the same earlier.

"Upstairs," Seth replied.

"Probably crying her eyes out cuz she doesn't want to be here," Nate laughed only seconds before he suffered a blow from Seth.

"No, I bet she's moping around hoping that if she stays up there long enough we'll all forget about her and go away," Katie suggested. Kyle laughed,

"What she's _really_ doing is planning to murder Seth and then lock us all in the basement and torture us for the rest of our lives."

"I think Jake's up there with her," Kim said quietly, sounding unsure.

"You kidding? We would here him stomping around! Hey- where did Nessie go?" Chris asked, looking around the room for the beautiful half-vampire, "She could tell us where he's at."

"I saw her sneak outside. I bet her and Jake are making a break for it while they still can."

"Oh shut up. She planned this whole party," Seth muttered, not meeting anyone's eyes.

"I'll just go get Dee-" Kim had just stood up from Jared's lap when Dee- head held tall- marched into the room.

"No need, I'm here," she announced. Her eyes looked red and puffy and I thought maybe she _had_ been crying. _What the heck did they do to her? If she doesn't want to be here just let her go!_

"Hi again, Dee," I greeted, trying to lighten the heavy silence that had fallen around the room.

"Hi, Audrine. I'm glad you and Brady worked everything out."

_Huh? Wait…_

I automatically sat up straighter as I realized I had been leaning against Brady _and_ I had allowed him to put his arm around my shoulders.

"Oh, yeah," I said, blushing.

"We've got cake," Seth stated, not moving from his place where he leaned against the wall.

"I guess we should eat it, then," Dee said quiet blankly.

Kim moved over to stand next to her,

"Happy Birthday, Dee!" She gave her an awkward hug, "Excuse me, I'm just going to step outside and find Nessie."

"I'm coming with you!" Jared called as Kim left out the back door.

Brady rolled his eyes,

"Oh god. Now they'll _never_ come back." A few people chuckled at that but I just looked at Dee questioningly.

"They make out _a lot_," she told me.

_Oookkaaayy, then_.

The rest of the party went a little smoother. Nessie and Jake _did_ join us right before we lit the candles on the birthday cake. However no one saw Jared and Kim until Dee opened the present the pack had pitched in on getting for her. I ended up hanging out with Brady the whole time, which became less and less awkward as the night went on. I don't know how late it was when Dee told everyone she had to get home and the party ended but it was really dark as Brady walked me home.

"That party wasn't too bad," Brady admitted as we reached my front doorstep.

"No, no it was kind of fun," I agreed, "It must have been because _I_ was there," I kidded. Hey, I get a little cocky when I'm tired and this is night two of staying up late.

He laughed with me for a few moments.

Then the laughing died down and I absorbed the silence. It was so dark I could barely see my hand in front of my face.

The breeze picked up and I shivered.

"Cold?" Brady asked.

"It's chilly out," I answered.

Brady picked up both my hands to hold in his. I felt warmer so I tried to pretend he wasn't invading my personal bubble.

"Thanks, Brady."

"For what?"

"For being so nice to me. I take things for granted a lot. I should change that."

"I think your fine just like this, how you are now."

"Really?" I breathed. He was definitely charming me again.

"Oh _yeah_. Well, actually there is _one_ thing I would change."

"Change?" I asked, his charm suddenly wearing off on me.

"Well, not _change_ but I wouldn't want you to freeze in time like this. I would want you to have one more thing."

"Oh? What's that?" I asked quietly.

"You sure you want to know?"

Suddenly his charm was back and totally engulfing me.

"I'm sure."

He wanted me to have his kiss.

I was suddenly much, _much_ warmer. His hands were pressed against my back, holding me close as his lips moved with mine.

I was standing on my tip-toes so my hands could reach where they were wrapped in his hair.

It almost felt unfair that I hadn't consciously decided to start kissing him back, but here I was, sure as ever, letting him _touch_ me. Letting him kiss me and letting myself kiss him back.

And it didn't feel as uncomfortably as I thought it would. That could be mostly because my whole face was burning in embarrassment and I was so focused on what he _thought_ of me. Can you believe that?! He is the first person who has ever made me feel _so_ self-conscious. I wanted him so badly to accept me and yet I had been the one rejecting him!  
I pulled away and slid my hands along his broad shoulders and down his arms to where they wrapped around my waist.

"I need you to tell me you're okay with this," he said to me for the second time today. I froze.

"I'm okay with this," I told him immediately, "Are you?"

"I'm okay with anything. I won't tell anyone if you want to pretend this never happened-"

"Hey! Is that you out there, Brady?" Both of our heads snapped to the house behind me (the house next to mine), someone was leaning out there window and spying down at us.

"Embry?! What the heck! Can't you see I'm busy here?!" Brady shouted back to the figure.

"I have some news, Brady!" Embry sounded excited.

"You're pregnant?" Brady joked dryly. I couldn't laugh; my attention was on his hands that were still on my waist.

"No, better! I imprinted!"

Suddenly Brady perked right up.

"YES!" He shouted. I expected him to start doing a victory dance.

"Shh! You'll wake up her parents!" Embry reminded him. Brady sounded apologetic as he said,

"Oops."

"It's okay. They're heavy sleepers," I assured him.

"Who did you imprint on?" Brady asked Embry. But Embry had already started talking to me,

"Sorry, Audrine. I know I really screwed with your emotions."

"I'm not jealous, Embry. I kinda got someone new…" I hinted at my new liking towards Brady. I could hear Brady smiling as he asked again,

"So who's the girl? God I feel bad for her."

"Shut up, Brady. You should just feel lucky things worked out for your sorry as-"

"Just tell us who!" I shouted up at him.

"One of Dee's sisters. She's _amazing_. You should see her eyes…" Embry sounded like he was in heaven.

"What did you say to her?" Brady asked curiously. Embry was quiet for a long moment,

"Okay, well, I didn't actually _talk_ to her but-"

Embry was drowned out by Brady's laughter,

"I'll talk to you later, Em. Let me just say goodbye to Audrine without you messing the whole moment up."

"Alright," Embry smirked, "but remember, I can _hear you_!" He said in a sing-songy voice.

_Man does he sound happy!_

"Anyways," Brady said to me, "Where were we?"

"I was about to tell you I don't want to hide '_us'_ from anybody. Just as long as we don't flaunt the age difference…"

"Okay! That works for me! I love you, Audrine!" He sounded excited, "Do you want to be my girlfriend?" He added.

"...I thought we just established that-"

"Great!" He exclaimed, his excitement sky-rocketing, "I'll see you tomorrow." His hands left my waist and he planted a swift kiss on my cheek-the exact same place he had yesterday-before he skipped off towards where I assumed his house must be.

"Aw, isn't that sweet." Embry teased as I unlocked my front door. I did my best to ignore him as I headed inside the house.

**Please review!**


	9. Jane and George are my Parents

**Alright, I'm ashamed for not updating in so long. I beg for your forgiveness. **

**Please check out my other story: '7-Eleven' **

**It's tied in with this story a lot. **

**Brady and Me**

It has been almost a week since I had first met Brady.

And let me tell you, Darling, it's been pretty uneventful.

I've spent my days at Forks High School, robotically moving from class to class, mostly just trying to not fall asleep.

I've spent my afternoons with Brady. We usually take a hike through the woods. I love hiking…and I love Brady…so they work well together.

Then I rush through most of my homework (I, er, 'save' some for the morning replacing breakfast with irresponsibility.)

And finally I spend a few hours of my night before I go to bed talking to Embry via our bedroom windows.

Snazzy schedule, ay?

At the moment I am staring at my kitchen wall wondering if I'll ever get around to doing my homework today or if I'll save it for tomorrow night, seeing as today is Saturday.

"Hey, if you're hungry snack on some crackers, not your hands."

My stepfather, George, commanded as he entered the kitchen. I hadn't even noticed that I had worked my way through all of my nails on my right hand and was almost finished with the left.

I sighed and crossed my arms, leaning back in my chair.

"Are we doing anything today?"

"I don't think so," George answered, "Your sister's out on a walk with her new friends. You should call someone from school; they can come here and hang out if you want."

"Uh, no…that's alright."

"You can't keep living in a box, Audrine."

As innocent and sincere as his suggestion sounds, I know the truth. They _think_ they want a group of teenagers here but they really don't. Deep down inside they're thankful I'm generally a loner.

…or _was_ a loner, really.

Now I'm a loner along with the whole 'pack and friends'. A.K.A.: People George and my mother will _never_ be meeting. Talk about chaos.

It's only eleven in the morning and I'm already bored out of my mind. Lazily, I let my thoughts drift to a conversation I had with Embry-or, according to Brady, _Emma_- yesterday morning when I was at my dad's house.

"_I just don't know what to do. I'd give the world for her but that still isn't enough. I don't know what to do! When I tried to hang out with her on the beach yesterday it went okay for a little while but then she just- Uh! I ending up getting pushed _further_ away from her! I can't do it right! I'm so messed up! And head over heels crazy for her but I just don't know how to show it!"_

_I propped my head up, resting my elbow on my window sill and peering intently over at Embry's window where he was talking to me._

_I thought,_

"_Well…It sounds like she's rather shy. And kind of temperamental, from what Collin's experienced. I think that the problem can't be that you just don't 'click', especially when considering the whole meant for each other thing, so let's just eliminate that right here and now. My best guess is that you just don't know enough about each other to realize you think the other's amazing." _

_Embry nodded,_

"_But I already _do_ think she's amazing…"_

"_Right. But she doesn't know that. You need to find out more about her."_

_Embry thought, looking like he agreed._

"_You're totally and absolutely right, Audrine. I vow to find out more about her today." _

"_Seth talked to Dee today and word is she's going on a hike with Aria to the beach…"_

"…_are you suggesting I eavesdrop?" _

"_I didn't say that but- hey! That's a damn good idea!" _

_Embry smiled,_

"_Suuuure. Okay, after today I'll know everything there is to know about Aria. I swear it. Goodbye and thank you, Audrine!" _

"_Yeah. No problem. And thanks again for waking me up at five this morning to talk about your girl problems, I would have hated to miss this," I added sarcastically. _

"_I love you too!" Embry called back, somehow already outside of his house and heading towards the woods._

"_I love you?! Where the heck did _that_ come from?!"_

"_It's a friend kind of love!" _

"_I don't care _what_ kind of love it is, you don't _ever_ say that to me again, Emma!" _

"_I love you too, Audy!" _

_And then he phased._

I chuckled. We are awfully funny together. But that's it- only meant to be friends. And I like it this way, a lot.

Mostly because I get Brady.

And I'd never thought I'd say this, but dating a younger guy is the best thing I ever did.

_Beep, beep, beep._

I checked my cell phone, discovering a new text message from a number I've never seen before.

It read: hiya babe where u

I had to read it three times before I was sure I had registered it correctly.

…_Brady? Wait- no. He doesn't have a cell phone much less know how to text. _

_That leaves Soaki trying to mess with me, a wrong number, or a creeper._

A shiver ran through my spine.

_What's the right thing to do in a situation like this?_

I can't ask my mom, she'll freak. I'm not sure what George's reaction would be but I'm not curious enough to risk finding out.

My options, then?

I could reply.

I could ignore it.

…That's about it.

_Hmmm…come on, Me! You must think of SOMETHING?_

_Beep, beep, beep._ The alert message went off again and my message inbox now a new unread text.

I hesitantly read it:

Ok even if you don't answer me I still kno where u r and im coming for you be there in a few seconds

_Yeah, okay, that's not good, darling, not good at all…_

If it is a creeper, they may not actually know where I am and might just be trying to get a reply out of me.

If it's someone (Soaki) messing with me then there is definitely nothing to worry about.

If it's a wrong number then this is just one big misunderstanding.

_But if it IS a creeper and they DO know who I am and where I live, then I need protection. _

It seemed silly to call the police when I wasn't really sure if there was a threat. And George and Mom are in the house-

_Wait, where are George and Mom?!?!_

I scurried over to the window, their cars were still there.

_So they must have gone for a walk!_

"Dammit! Shoot, shoot, shoot!" I said, panicking.

_I can't be here alone! _

I looked at my phone and bit my lip, my mind racing for ways to contact Brady. He would definitely help me.

_My knight in shining armor…_

Woah- ADD moment, there. Anyways, back to full panic mode. The creeper will be here any second!!!

I pushed my hair behind my ears nervously as I dialed Sam and Emily's number.

It rang and rang for what felt like forever.

I waited for a voice to answer on the other end. And waited. And waited. Anyone could help me. Any pack member at all could be here to help me. Even hearing Emily's voice would help me. I wouldn't be alone.

My heart was pounding in my ears.

_Ding-Dong._

I jumped at the sound of my doorbell. Realizing that someone-the creeper- was at my door, I fled across the kitchen and hid under the table, holding my breath. The phone was silent against my ear, I had accidently hit the 'end' button.

Then I heard the footsteps.

I jumped again as someone opened the front door.

"Hi."

"Hi! I'm here for Audrine."

…

…

…

…

My thoughts went dead for a minute. When they started working again I found myself peeking from out under the table at my mother and Brady at the front door.

No creeper.

My panic left as I saw them both and relief washed over me when my eyes scanned Brady's face. He was here, nothing bad would happen today.

I pushed a chair out of my way to crawl out from my hiding spot.

"Audrine Elizabeth Worthing, _what_ were you doing under that table?" My mom asked, noticing me.

Brady was watching Me, too. He chuckled at my mother's disapproval.

Or maybe he was just amused at how my eyes lit up when they met his.

Either way, I loved his laugh.

Random thought: Dating a younger guy is great for a few reasons. One of which is that he doesn't pressure me to like make out with him, mostly because he isn't ready for that sort of thing. Wow, I make it sound like he's twelve.

Back to Earth (which, by the way, isn't the only inhabited planet):

I made my way out from under the table and closer to my mother and Brady.

Brady smiled at me.

"So? What were you doing?" My mom asked again.

"You know, just…playing a game."

My mother raised her eyebrows,

"You're eighteen and you're playing a game that involves hiding under tables?"

"Please, please, I don't think you understand the seriousness of the game. You need advanced math skills and patience. Also a large bladder."

A looked over at Brady who was quietly laughing to himself.

My mother's eyebrows stayed raised,

"You mean you need to be able to count to ten and stay quiet for awhile?"

"It works better with multiple people," I admitted.

"Are we talking about hide and seek?" Brady asked. I laughed and nodded.

"Why do you need a large bladder?" He asked.

My mom and I exchanged looks,

"You've never had to use the bathroom when you're hiding?" I asked in disbelief.

"Oh you mean how when you're hiding you always have to pee about four seconds later?" Brady asked.

"Yeah," my mom said.

_Oh this is great. The first conversation my mom has with my boyfriend is about pee and hide-and-seek._

"Okay, well, enough of that," I said before anyone could say anymore.

"Jane?! Can you help me with this?!" George called from the basement. My mom smiled at Brady and Me before leaving to help.

Brady and I took a deep breath at the same time. I moved to where my mom was standing so I could be directly in front of him.

"It's nice to see you," I stated, smiling a little.

"So are you going to tell me why you were under the table? Unless you already did and you actually do enjoy playing children's games alone?"

_It makes me feel even younger…just like dating you._

"You should play with me sometime," I lowered my voice to a whisper and stepped closer to him, intertwining each of my hands in his, "Why did you come here? You couldn't have waited one day until I was back at the rez?"

He towered over me a great deal.

"You wanted me to stay away for a whole day?" He sounded a little hurt and in disbelief, "Audrine, I don't think that's even physically possible…"

"You're just saying that to be sweet."

"No, seriously. The fates of the world would whoop my ass until I found you and saw you at least for a moment or two."

I laughed,

"Okay, fine. Just be glad my mom didn't flip on you like I thought they would…The real reason I was hiding was because I got a couple creepy text messages and I thought someone was after me. And I didn't know my parents were in the basement so I thought they left the house."

"…_I_ texted you. From Jared's phone. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!" He looked worried.

"…You couldn't have mentioned that it was you?!?"

"I'm so sorry…" he said quietly, looking totally in regret and mistake. He kissed me once on the lips.

"It's okay."

I stepped away from him and dropped his hands.

Just in time, too, because George and Mom headed up the stairs.

George spotted Brady and eyed him strangely.

"Hi, I'm George," George stuck his hand out for Brady to shake, "Audrine's stepfather." His expression was very severe and I think it was meant to be scary.

Don't worry, Brady was scared.

George had basically pushed in-between Brady and Me.

I moved off to the side, now a little frightened of what was going on.

"I'm Brady."

"Oh, so do you go to Audrine's school?"

"No. I live on the rez."

"Oh. So you must live near Audrine's father."

"…Not really. We share the same friends."

"How long have you two known each other?"

"About a week," Brady glanced at me, not acting nervous at all.

George scrutinized Brady again.

"So you two are hanging out today?"

"Yeah. I thought we would go over a friend's house."

George looked at me,

"You could stay here."

"We could…" I agreed hesitantly, not wanting to.

"So are any other of your friends coming over, Audrine?" George asked me.

"Well, no…"

Brady grabbed my hand, showing that we are 'together'.

George looked between us and then at my mother. Mom shrugged, communicating she had no idea who Brady is.

"Brady and I are dating…" I announced.

George's jaw dropped.

"How old are you?" He asked Brady. It all finally came together.

They thought Brady was too old for me.

Brady looked embarrassed,

"Fifteen."

I got a death glare from George and my mom.

"Time to go!" I said, quickly opening the front door and pulling Brady out with me.

Oh yeah, facing my parents isn't something I'm looking forward to.

Brady and I ended up at Sam and Emily's. Nessie explained to me that she and Dee had a plan for one of Dee's sisters who Embry had imprinted on.

They were going to set up a mock fight between the two of them over who gets to sit next to Embry.

The point was to show Aria (the girl Embry had imprinted on) how awesome Embry is.

They needed me to play along as if they fight over Embry all the time.

"And no calling him 'Emma'." Nessie warned Brady.

Brady thought that rule was a little unfair.

Dee and Nessie's plan worked well. Except for the fact that they ended up fighting over Jake _and_ Embry by accident. Oh well.

I had given Embry the advice to wink at Aria, hopefully communicating he was flirting with her.

I think that worked too.

The whole thing with Dee's family was a freak show.

Collin had imprinted on Dee's mom. Embry had imprinted on Dee's eldest sister, Aria. Josh had imprinted on Dee's younger sister, Noelle. And Taylor had a crush on Dee's twin, Ani.

Yup, what a circus.

And now Dee isn't talking to Josh who used to be her guy best friend purely because he imprinted on Noelle and therefore is devoting all of his attention to Dee's least favorite sister.

My life is normal compared to all that.

And I still can't figure out who-if anyone- imprinted on Dee!  
…Maybe I should just ask her?

I threw my plate away and found my way to where Dee was examining a broken flower pot in Sam and Emily's backyard. Broken-probably-from when Embry attacked Brady.

"Hi, Audrine," she greeted me quietly.

"Hi. Um…Dee? I want to ask you something…"

"Go on."

"…Did someone imprint on you?"

Dee turned to look at me, examining my face. She was as tall as her older sister who was three years older than her and had the darkest skin out of her family. I couldn't get over how strong she was, either.

"I didn't want to hang around these fools. I found out by accident and ever since then been sucked into the secret."

"…So no one imprinted on you?"

Dee inhaled and turned away to the flower pot again,

"Seth did."

**Please review and read '7-Eleven'!!!**


	10. Walking again with Brady

Brady and Me

"…_Did someone imprint on you?"_

_Dee turned to look at me, examining my face. She was as tall as her older sister who was three years older than her and she had the darkest skin out of her family. I couldn't get over how strong she was, either._

"_I didn't want to hang around these fools. I found out by accident and ever since then been sucked into the secret."_

"…_So no one imprinted on you?"_

_Dee inhaled and turned away to the flower pot again,_

"_Seth did."_

Awkward silences aren't exactly fun. Dee's eyes were entirely devoted to scrutinizing every detail of the smashed flower pot and I recruited my own eyes to her face, trying to see what she was thinking, what she had gone through that made her act so miserable around the pack.

If Seth imprinted on her, shouldn't she have fallen for him by now?

_I don't think I could ask Dee. Maybe Kim will have some answers…_

A used my softest voice as I looked sympathetically at the thirteen year old,

"Darling…"

"I know what you're thinking," her eyes were still on the flower pot, "That I must be all torn up and hurt inside. That some part of me must long for Seth, and that I've been resisting it."

She turned back to me, "But that's not it at all. Seth likes me; I don't like him anymore than the next bloke. And I _hate_ this _stupid_ pack!" Her voice went sour and her eyes slide across the faces of various werewolves eating lunch across the yard.

"Dee-"

"Watch your mouth, Deanna Brentwood," Brady cut me off, joining us from behind me. His tone was authoritative, using her full name.

"I wasn't going to say it," Dee scoffed. I looked between the both of them,

"More secrets?!" _Darling, HOW could they KEEP anyMORE from ME!?_

"It's not a secret. Dee just..." Brady paused to sweep his eyes over the yard, "Dee just has a way of finding all the wrong words to say around all the wrong people."

"Tell me!" I demanded, staring straight at him. An expression of confliction crossed his face for a moment before he gave in,

"She hurts Seth's feelings."

Dee laughed,

"I'm still right here, Brady boy. And Sethy wethy can stop being so sensitive and such a big baby."

I blinked, staring at Dee in mild disbelief.

"But he _imprinted_ on you. You're his world…" Brady trailed off and stared down at me.

Deanna snorted,

"I don't care. I don't even want to be part of the stupid mess. My sisters and I are leaving now." The tall, tan girl marched off to where Aria (her oldest sister) was sitting alone.

…_oh come_on!_Don't tell me Embry left her!_

I sighed at my friend's lack of common sense.

A line of nasty names came from Brady's mouth as he bore holes with narrowed eyes into the back of Dee's head.

"What do you think it's like listening to Seth's depressing thoughts all day? That girl's torturing him!"

I patted Brady's shoulder,

"She'll learn. She's just denying her feelings."

Brady looked at me, biting his lip (which was unusual…)

"I need to tell you the whole story now."

He grabbed my hand led me away from everybody.

"Uh…bye everyone! I guess Brady and I are going now…" I waved as we made our way towards the street. Sam and Emily smiled and waved back at us, everyone else was too busy saying bye to Dee's sisters.

"Where do I start?"

"How about how Seth and Dee met in the first place?"

Brady looked up at the sky.

"It's a simple story. Seth was walking down the street. Dee was walking down the street. They saw each other and Seth thought she was the best thing on the planet. Dee's thoughts probably went along the lines of, _'oh look, a sixteen-year-old staring at me…anyways,_' And she must of not thought much of it. Remember she was only twelve then and she didn't look like she does now. Then she was much shorter, she was actually small for her age. And her skin was lighter, the same tone as her sisters. Also she was very quiet. Seth tried to strike up a conversation with her but she was weary to talk to a stranger, especially since she was alone. He hung around her, trying to make friends with her for a few more days with no headway at all. Dee just wasn't interested in talking to him. In fact, it was quite obvious many points of his character turned her off. Seth decided she was too young for him to expect her to recognize they were soul mates. He planned to wait until she was older before he told her the secret, or even tried to make friends with her, for that matter. He didn't think she would want to be sucked into our world just yet."

"…But she 'found out by accident?'" I asked him, recalling what she had said.

Brady narrowed his eyes,

"Worst. Day. Of. My. Life.…No wait- I take that back. When Katie Springs joined the pack, _that_ was like the gods giving me a day in hell!"

I pursed my lips. _Brady sure does have issues with girls._

"So how did Dee find out?"

Brady's eyes slid down to my face. He stared at me for a moment and an impish grin formed on his lips. He brushed a strand of hair away from my face,

"Are you sure you want to talk about Dee?"

His eyes were penetrating through my thoughts, leaving my mind blank and open to whatever it was he was suggesting we do instead…

I inhaled a breath and looked away,

"You started this conversation, now finish it."

Brady chuckled, apparently aware of his effect on me. Stupid kid. _That's right, Me, I just have to remember he's only a kid. A really good-looking, loveable, kid that I am meant to end up with._Oh, yeah, that helps _a lot_.

"Alright. Have it your way," Brady fake sighed and continued, "Dee was- for some unknown reason- running through the woods. She looked lost to me but she says she knew where she was….But seriously, Audrine, she looked pretty dang lost. We were chasing a bloodsucker and it came right towards her. It was a newborn and it was starving. Newborns don't have much control over themselves so it completely lost focus on the fact it was running from us when it smelled Dee. On top of it all, Dee's ankle was bleeding. The bloodsucker attacked her, was about to sink it's teeth into her neck and everything right when we got it."

"Oh my god! What did Seth do?" My eyes widened at the story, I felt panicked for them. Brady paused for a split second, his expression changed and he threw his arm over my shoulders casually.

"Besides have a heart attack? After we ripped the bloodsucker to shreds, we held Dee hostage while Seth went to phase back into a more friendly, human form. He was all ready to deal with her long line of questions about vampires and werewolves but she had none. The Cullens were her neighbors and I guess one of her sisters had suspected they were vampires. Edward had read their minds and had Nessie make friends with one of them. Nessie became friends with Dee, trying to plant in her mind that the Cullens are human so that way the Cullens wouldn't have to move. When Dee saw the bloodsucker and us, she figured it all out even though before that she had believed there were no such thing."

"So one of her sisters suspects the Cullens are vampires?"

"Yeah."

"Which one?"

"I'm not sure. We got the story from Nessie since Dee wouldn't talk about her family with us. The weird thing is that by now Dee should have some sort of at least _friendship_ with Seth. But she doesn't. She really just doesn't like him. She's learned to deal with him for an hour or two each day because she accepts that he needs to see her but she still just doesn't like him. She rejects the whole pack now, too. She regrets ever finding out, just like Seth thought she would."

"But she was friends with Josh," I reminded my Brady. …my Brady as in, er, you know, the Brady that I'm talking to. Not that I like _own_ him or anything…even though I sort of do

*cough, nervous laugh*

"Good point. He, Taylor, and Alan all got along with her pretty well. Which at first confused Seth because Josh is almost exactly like him. Dee's really been digging into the poor guy's feelings. But Seth's been pretending like he's okay. He just keeps trying to win her over, but she's not budging. There's…" Brady stopped, his eyes fixed on my hand. I was biting my nails as I was listening to his story.

"What?" I asked, dropping my hand.

"Why do you do that?" He asked, bringing up a sore subject.

_Habit_. I answered him in my mind.

"Why, does it bother you?" I wondered, trying to decipher his expression. He looked uncomfortable as he reached out for my right hand, he looked at it closely.

"You completely ruin your hands…"

"Thanks?" I replied unpleasantly, feeling insulted. I pulled my hand away.

He looked into my eyes,

"I just mean that I don't like you see you hurting yourself. There's so many germs-"

"Just shut up and finish your story, Brady," I spoke coldly, not enjoying his lecture.

"Audrine, can't you just hear me out? I'm afraid of you getting sick!"

I stopped walking, pushing his arm off my shoulders and turned to face him straight on,

"I don't want to talk about it," I hissed.

"Okay, I'm sorry!" He lifted his hands in the air to show innocence.

I just narrowed my eyes at him.

He took in my expression and gulped,

"Please forgive me?" He said so softly and quietly it was almost a murmur.

His big puppy eyes were hard to resist. They just screamed, 'LOVE ME' but I was ticked off enough to ignore the plea.

I looked away, crossing my arms.

"Audrine…" He whispered. Brady sounded hurt, like I was breaking up with him.

_Which, darling, I am most certainly__not__._ _I'm just a little annoyed is all…_

Brady's hand pulled at my arm, trying to make me step closer to him.

"Audrine," he said again. This time I allowed my eyes to glare up at him.

A smaller version of the charming smile he had given me so many times when we first met crept across his face,

"Will you please forgive me? I shouldn't have said that."

I bit my lip and uncrossed my arms. He kept his smile as he stepped closer to hug me. I spread out my arms to embrace his warmth.

That's what Brady is- warm. His whole being is just so _warm_ and he is so _charming_.

So we stood their like idiots, hugging in the middle of the street somewhere in La Push. Not caring about a thing in the world.

He was so much younger than me. I know I keep pointing it out but he _is_. I can sense his youthful innocence when he does simple things like this, we he cares for me he does so without suspicion that more mature people would.

_If some random stranger offered him a hotdog, he would take it without thinking that the person might not be trustworthy. He trusts everything._

My thoughts led me back to Embry. He's almost the exact opposite. I never remembered him being shy, and he was never shy around me but everyone else seems to think he is.

I guess it was because he knew from when he was younger.

Nevertheless, Embry is a cautious, suspicious person. That's why he can be shy. I have no idea why I thought he was perfect for me, seeing as Brady and I are so happy together and they are so different from one another.

Brady stepped away,

"Thanks," he smiled. His hands slid down my arms from my shoulders to my hands, holding mine in his.

I blushed. He was so sweet with just simple little things like that.

"You're welcome…. I just remembered something," I said after a second of silence.

Brady lifted my hands to his eye level ( I had to stand on my tip toes.) He rand his thumbs over my finger nails,

"I'm sorry," he mumbled again, dropping my hands. We locked eyes for an awkward moment.

"Brady…" I began, trying to find the right words, "Thanks for being concerned about me. I know you want to see me happy. But on another note, I just remembered something: my parents."

Brady's face went from bashful to scared,

"They're gonna kill me!" He exclaimed. I thought his knees might start shaking.

"Calm down, you'll be alright. They just thought you were too old for me."

"…They thought I was going to hurt you?" Brady's face had a look of realization.

I nodded,

"Yes."

Brady chuckled a little and stared off into space,

"I wonder what they would have done to _Embry_."

I grimaced.

"Yeah, good point. Lucky thing he dumped me when he did," I joked.

Brady looked back at me,

"_Very_ lucky thing," he agreed. "So are they going to tear me apart when I drop you off?"

"More likely they will be upset with _me_ and call me a pervert for dating someone so much younger."

"I'm not _that_ much younger," Brady mumbled, looked dejected. I patted him on the shoulder,

"Cheer up. It's mostly just because I wasn't even allowed to date when I was your age. If you were twenty one and I was twenty four people would hardly recognize the difference," I explained to my little Brady.

"But I still love you _now_," Brady protested, still looking dejected and staring at his feet. His voice was just about a mumble.

"I know. But they don't. You have to _show_ them. Be nice to me and stuff around them and they'll figure it out."

Brady's POV

I moved my eyes away from my feet and to Audrine's lovely face.

"You think they'll detect the bond between us, how much I love you?" I asked. _There's hope that they'll understand us? All those old people…_

Audrine pushed her hair behind her ears and smiled at me,

"And how much I like _you_," she added. I couldn't help but beam back at her.

"Okay," a goofy smile was taking over my face, ear-to-ear, "Then let's get you home. Any tips on how to impress them?"

Audrine and I started walking again as she thought.

"Just be yourself. You are the nicest guy I know. You already are on okay terms with my mom…well, at least when we left you were. Who knows what George has put in her head by now."

With the thought of time equally more problems, I picked up my walking pace.

"Hey! Wait up! Not all of us are Superman, you know!" Audrine called, now falling behind me.

"I could carry you," I suggested, wiggling my eyebrows. I was trying desperately to imitate the cool guys.

Audrine did a sort of half laugh as she raised her eyebrows at me. I could tell she was thinking: _'he's not as cool as he thinks he is'_

I couldn't help but smile at her face.

"No thanks," she declined, "You can keep your hands to yourself, Mister!" She joked.

I laughed and slowed down so she could catch up.

"I've actually been wondering about that," I admitted.

"Wondering about you keeping your hands to yourself?" Audrine sounded disgusted and uncomfortable with the idea of discussing the topic. I didn't want to make her feel that way so I almost dropped it, before reminding myself that I wasn't going to be talking about _me._

"No. I meant Embry. I know he really, er, pushed you to kiss him. I'm sorry."

Audrine blinked at me, scrunching up her nose,

"Embry didn't understand. I..I-I don't like it when people touch me very much."

Audrine's POV

_Wow that sounds dirty. At least I know Brady's too naïve to take it_that_way._

"You…don't?" Brady asked quietly, slowly, sounding confused.

I nodded and looked at my feet as we walked,

"It makes me squirm. It just _annoys_ me."

"But…I…" Brady was looking at me without really looking at me, like he was far off some other place. He looked horrified, too.

"What's wrong?" I asked, now a little worried.

Brady stopped walking to stare at me, mouth open in disbelief and horror.

"Brady! What is it?!"

_What's wrong with you?!_ _Did I say something?!_

"…I…But you've been letting me hug you and kiss you and hold your hand…"

_Oh. Oh No. Brady thinks I've been letting him make me feel uncomfortable, that he's been doing something wrong. He's scared he messed up. Typical, considering I'm his very first ever girlfriend._

Brady's POV

_I can't believe what an idiot I've been. I'm so stupid. I've been horrible to her, she doesn't like being touched and I've been kissing her and hugging her and…oh my god…_

What a jerk I am!

Audrine stared at me with a look of uncertainty. Then she grabbed my hand in one of hers. I was hesitant to respond to her touch, afraid it would make her feel awkward.

"Darling…You're not bothering me, I swear. You're different. I'm okay."

I still didn't know what to do.

"Are-are you sure?" I asked timidly.

Audrine nodded,

"It's not like you are Embry. Brady, I've only hugged you a few times. Chill. It's nothing serious."

I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding.

_Yup, here I was thinking my happy ending was near but we got all these little things we keep running into!_

Audrine's POV

Long story short, Brady and I made it to my mom's house in Forks and- thanks to fate feeling particularly angry at me for some unknown reason- George and my mother were not home. I waved farewell to Brady and then took a nap, only to be awoken twenty minutes later by a very angry George who wanted to know why I didn't answer my cell phone. I explained I left it at home.

Thank god it was late by then so he let it go and planned a lecture for me tomorrow.


	11. I've Got a Boyfriend Named Brady

Brady and Me

Chapter 11

Audrine

For what it's worth, I did consider the perverted-ness of dating Brady _before_ I dated him.

Darling, I'm not an idiot.

I know it's not _that much_ of an age difference but when I'm eighteen dating a fifteen year old it seems like a pretty big gap.

George's lecture was a good half an hour long. A half an hour I managed to hold myself together for.

Until he asked me how Brady and I came to become a couple.

I decided to just stick with being honest.

"I was dating another guy, Embry, at the time and Embry brought me to a bonfire his friends were having and I met Brady and Brady and Embry got into a fight over me. It ended with Embry dumping me and Brady and I eventually started dating."

Sounds honest enough, right, darling?

George said I should never date guys who get into fights like that. He said guys like Embry and Brady are immature and stupid.

And that Brady only wants me for my body.

I could see how- in a normal situation- he would be making perfect sense. But see, darling, this isn't a normal situation.

He lectured me so much I started crying.

Finally I got sent to my room to 'think about what the grown up, responsible, safe thing to do is and then give Brady a call to break up with him.'

Very tacky, breaking up with my boyfriend over the phone. I still don't see what my mother sees in George.

Oh well.

I finalized the plan in my head for making George happy.

I rose my voice loud enough for anyone down stairs to hear and pretended to be talking aloud to myself,

"I guess George is right. I deserve way better than Brady. I'm going to call him right now and tell him it's over."

I listened to George's satisfied grunt. I smiled deviously and dialed Jared's number on my cell phone.

I could just pretend I'm talking to him on the phone except I'm a bad actress so I figure why not just talk to the real him?

I guess I might give him a heart attack but I'll be sure tell him it was all fake afterwards.

_Heehee. I'm evil today. _

"Hello?" Jared's confused voice answered.

"Hi it's Audrine. Is Brady there?"

"Oh." Jared sounded caught off guard, "Yeah, one second."

I heard a girl giggle in the background and realized he was with Kim. I bit my lip, feeling awkward.

A heard some footsteps and a door open. Then I heard a weird _whooshing_ sound and a _thunk_. I figured Jared had just thrown the phone at Brady.

"What?" Brady asked to Jared, still not bringing the phone to his ear.

"It's Audrine."

"Babe?" Brady's husky voice said to through the phone. The way he said 'babe' made me want to squeal.

"Hi, Brady. George was really upset that I was dating you. And he's right. I'm breaking up with you."

Brady didn't respond. I wondered if I should risk telling him I was only faking, although I was pretty sure George was right outside my door listening.

Then I heard a scream.

"Audrine?" Brady asked, seeming unaffected by what I just said.

"Yes?" I asked, confused.

"I'm sorry but I'm going to have to call you back later, I think Kim just had a heart attack…" Brady said, sounding distracted.

_Oh. He didn't hear anything I just said, did he? Now what was that about Kim?_

"Literally?!" I asked, worried.

"No. I mean Emily just called and told Kim something that's making her freak out. Jared's trying to get actually words besides 'OMIGOD!' out of her now." Brady explained, saying 'omigod' in a high-pitched, excited, teenage-girly voice.

"Is she still on the phone with Emily?" I asked, wondering what was so exciting.

"Yes. I think Rachel is with Emily too. Maybe it's some sort of girl thing."

"Maybe…"

"Hey, you should know since you're a girl."

"Bye, Brady." I said, pretending to be angry so George believes I broke up with him.

I shrugged. _ How am I supposed to know what's so exciting to Rachel, Kim, and Emily?_

By then it was time for me to switch houses. Back to my dad's in La Push! My stepmom came to pick me up.

That's when I had opened my window to talk to Embry- who was pacing back and forth in his bedroom in some sort of weird panic frenzy- hoping that my friend could help me out.

Instead, he wanted _my_ help and would not even listen to my problems.

"Where could she be?" Embry asked me, I could see the sweat covering his face. He was convinced something bad was definitely happening to his imprint because he couldn't find her anywhere.

"You can't just ask her sisters?" I asked, annoyed that I was such a good person. I wanted to scream about my problems, not deal with his overreactive-ness. _Seriously, though, darling. Her sisters would be of much more help._

"I _did_. I asked Dee! She said no one's seen her since this morning!" Embry could start crying at this point and I wouldn't be surprised.

_Give the girl some freedom. You haven't been making any obvious moves. She has no idea you like her. She's probably just hanging out with her friends. You're such a stalker, Embry. Why can't you be like Brady and just kiss her or something? _

I sighed,

"Well can't you feel a pull towards her from somewhere?" _There has to be a way for him to find his imprint. _

"I tried following my instincts and ending up at her house, but everyone says she's not home…Maybe she's avoiding me…" His head dropped in shame and guilt.

"Aw, don't think that. I'm sure she likes you." I assured him.

"But I _have_ to see her today!" He insisted, tears filling his eyes even though his voice was determined and not sad.

His appearance took me by surprise for a second.

"…I'm out of ideas. What happens if you don't see her?" I asked, remembering that Brady said once that the fates of the world would come after him if he didn't see me for a day.

Embry seemed to freeze, like some black weed, plague, had twisted around his heart and choked him. His eyes widened.

"I'll die."

I rolled my eyes. _Emma with the dramatics. _

"No you won't, she still needs you. Stop being so dramatic."

"I feel like I'm dying!" Embry promised, gripping out his chest like his heart was going to fall out and die.

_Oh Embry don't do this..._

"You're fine! CHILL OUT! Wait outside of her house all night if you have to, just don't do anything rash."

He nodded.

"Worst case scenario, you'll see her at the bonfire tomorrow night," I reminded him. _Now, about MY problems…_

"But I _need_ to see her _now_!" Embry pleaded with some invisible force he believed to be hiding Aria from him.

"You'll live." I said curtly, truly annoyed that I wasn't getting anywhere with him and my feelings were still broken, thanks to his lack of help.

I slammed the window shut and watched as he stared at me through it in confusion and innocence.

After that I busied myself with homework for a couple hours until Kim texted me telling me everyone's meeting up at Sam and Emily's and that I should come. Not having a car, I texted back saying I have no way to get there. Kim insisted that I had to come and she and Jared came to pick me up. I sat in the back of the car and pretended to not be able to see them the whole time they made lovey-dovey eyes at each other.

It was nauseating.

We made it to Sam and Emily's without me throwing up, thankfully. Everyone was there except for Embry who I bet was stationed outside of his imprint's house looking for her again.

"Audrine!" Brady called happily, running up to me once I got out of Jared's car. I shivered as I realized I had probably been sitting where Kim and Jared make out all the time.

_Ew. Gross. _

"Do you know why everyone's here?" I asked him. He smiled mischievously,

"Yes. But I'm not supposed to tell you so please don't ask." He explained, reaching for my hand. He took it and led me inside. All the while a big, goofy smile was on his face.

_Is someone getting married?_

I was going to wonder who might be tying the knot when my thoughts took an unexpected turn down 'what if' lane. My imaginations magical journey included several scenarios in which Brady proposed marriage to me.

_I'm such a girl, darling._

Smiling at all the happy faces inside of Sam and Emily's house, I wrapped my arm around Brady's waist.

He seemed so happy that I was close to him that he might start skipping and whistling any second. Similar expressions were plastered every which way around the house. Since many of the wolves had brought their imprints, everyone seemed in their happiest state ever.

Rachel was talking to Emily very excitedly and Paul was with her, seeming very interested in whatever it was they were talking about…or, at least, what Rachel was saying.

Jacob was carrying little Nessie around on his back and she was grinning widely, constantly pressing her hand to Jacob's cheek to show him things. He in return was whispering things back to her in her ear. I figured they were talking about Emily because every few minutes their eyes would slide over to her.

Jared and Kim also looked happy as they went over to join Rachel, Emily, and Paul.

Seth even looked cheerful! I had been so used to seeing him glum because of Dee. But he looked happy today. He was holding Dee's hand (the one on the same arm as her broken wrist.) I think she was allowing it because she was afraid of one of the huge guys bumping into her and hurting her wrist. Dee kept glancing up at Nessie, looking jealous.

Leah seemed in a good mood as well. I think she was happy that her little brother was happy.

Katie was skipping around the house, occasionally stopping to flirt with one of the younger guys.

Alan, Taylor, Chris, Kyle, and Nate were lounging on the furniture, looking like they hoped Emily would cook some food soon.

Josh and Collin where the only guys who didn't have their imprints with them. But they still looked like they were enjoying themselves.

Quil had brought Claire and was playing a game of Barbie dolls with her. Josh had joined in, doing a suspiciously good job at picking out outfits for the dolls. Quil was sending him looks that said, '_really_, Josh? I didn't know you were so good at little girl games…'.

And then there was Sam, who looked hands-down the happiest one of us all. He was absolutely beaming. He was standing next to Paul, beaming at his wife, Emily, and not taking his eyes off her. He had a ridiculous-looking smile on his face and I wondered why exactly everyone was here again.

Finally Emily and Sam took each others hands and let us in on the news.

"Aww," said Dee.

"What are you going to name it?!" asked Katie.

"Qwil and I are going to get a baby one day too," Clair announced matter-of-a-factly as Quil's entire face turned a bright, bright, tomato red. That's when everyone started laughing and couldn't stop for the next five minutes.

Claire just smiled proudly, giggling and unsure why everyone was laughing. Quil patted her on the back and then hid his face in his hands as Jared made a few hilarious jokes.

Eventually Quil glared at Katie and I realized it must have been her who put the idea in Claire's head in the first place.

Everyone calmed down enough to bring their attention back to Sam and Emily's announcement.

_They're going to have a baby!_

Everyone began to congratulate them.

"Anyone else have any big announcements?" Brady asked, "Might as well get them all out of way now." He joked.

"Well, now that you mention it…" Jared began, only kidding around. Everyone laughed again and Kim hit his arm playfully.

"Hey, now!" Quil warned, "The two of you _better_ not have any news!"

And that's basically how the rest of the night went.

The next day was the bonfire that the Brentwoods were invited to. (Brentwood is the last name of Embry's imprint, Aria, and all her sisters.)

Sam told one of the pack legends. I spent the entire time sitting next to Brady and watching Embry as he stared at Aria. I could see how much he had worried about her and how much he just wanted to tell her the secret and be done with having to watch his words and actions.

I prayed that he would just kiss her already.

But he didn't even talk to her until after Sam was finished telling the story.

He walked over to her, grabbed her wrists, and asked her to come with him into the dark woods.

_Stupid Embry. She can't trust you!_

Aria looked like she was about to say no and call him a creeper so I stepped in.

"Hi again, Aria. You must remember me from Sam and Emily's house? I'm Audrine."

Aria looked awkward and confused for a moment.

"Oh, yes, I do. Hi."

Embry raised his eyebrow at me as if to say, _You interrupt me NOW?_

I shot him a look that said 'I'm trying to help you, dumbass' in return. Embry resumed keeping eye contact with Aria.

I leaned down and whispered in Aria's ear,

"Embry's a nice kid, give him a chance. I know, I used to date him." I hoped that would assure her that she could trust him.

I walked back over to Brady.

"What was all that about? Is it really good idea to interfere?" Brady asked, unsure.

I glanced back to see Aria nod slowly and Embry led her away to the woods.

"It's a brilliant idea to interfere, Brady." I assured him, patting him on his head then sitting down next to him. He smiled and threw his arm over my shoulder to keep me warm.

The rest of the bonfire we teased Collin about imprinting on an older woman (a _mom!_) Brady and I also had a nice conversation with Aria's little sister Tasha, she's very smart for her age.

Then the girls left and then I asked Brady if he'd walk me home.

"Walk? Why would I walk you home when I can _drive_?" Brady asked with a devious twinkle in his eye.

"…You can't drive, darling, you're only fifteen and you don't even have a car…"

Brady grabbed my hand and led me to where a the ugliest piece of junk on wheels I've ever seen was parked.

My mouth fell open it was so awful.

Brady dropped my hand and for a second I thought he had left me here with the ugly car. Instead he made me jump by suddenly standing in front of me.

He was smiling like he had some evil plan and I just stood there in disbelief. He leaned in close to me, planted a quick kiss on my lips.

"This," he explained, motioning to the car (if it could even be considered that,) "Is my new car."

"…So it really is a car then?" I asked, dead-serious. Brady laughed and grinned widely at me,

"Picked it up from the junk yard this morning. And the best are is…" he paused for dramatic emphasis.

I put my hands up my hips and raised my eyebrows,

"What?"

"I'm going to share it with you!"

I scratched my head and politely smiled at Brady,

"Lovely, darling."


	12. I Used to Date Embry

Brady and Me

Chapter 12

Brady's POV

_Something tells me that Audrine still doesn't like my new car._

I thought, in my wolf form along with Josh and Seth. It was an early morning patrol.

Three days have passed since the bonfire with the pack and since I have shown Audrine my new car.

_Nah, it seems like she doesn't it mind it. _ Josh disagreed, _I mean, she _did_ use it the other day. Didn't you say she drove Aria to Embry's house or something?_

I shifted uncomfortably,

_Yeah, she told me Aria was equally amazed to find out it actually was capable of starting up, never mind driving her anywhere._

…_that could be taken as a compliment…_Josh suggested, not really meaning his words.

I rolled my eyes.

Seth was remembering the dinner he and Josh had had at their imprints' house.

A scene ran through his mind about him pretending to sacrifice one of younger the Brentwood sisters in exchange for Josh's life…

Josh chuckled,

_That was fun. _

_May I ask what you two were on that day? _I questioned.

_It _was_ fun. _Seth agreed.

_Hey! We weren't on anything, Brady! Playing with little kids _is_ fun!_ Josh argued.

_I'm sure Quil would be quick to agree with you._ I smirked.

Josh tried to ignore me but I laughed as a memory of Collin asking Josh about how he played Barbie's with Quil and Claire ran through his head.

Audrine's POV

"How many days of school have you missed?" My stepmom, Starey, asked.

_Uhh…_

"Can we not talk about that?" I asked, knowing that I was in trouble.

My school had apparently called today, asking where the hell I'd been during the days I skipped.

I counted in my head how many days it was exactly.

_Well, there was that first day when I skipped to go to the bonfire with Embry._

Note to all young women everywhere: Skipping school is sometimes beneficial. For instance, you can meet a hot werewolf guy who _imprints_ on you and will love you for ever and make your life completely perfect and exciting. (This works best when skipping with a werewolf in the first place.)

_And then there was the day after that which I spent with Brady…_

Which I also do not regret. I mean, that was the day he told me he had imprinted on me! One of the most memorable days of my life, darling.

_So…I've skipped two days of school. It's not THAT bad. _

"_Two_ days of school? How do you _skip_ _two _days of school? What were doing for two days?" Starey asked me.

"I was hanging out with my new friends, trying to get used to La Push." I explained honestly.

"Who are your new friends?" She asked me, curious.

"Well, you've met Embry, the kid that lives next-door. There's a whole bunch of them, really. My best friend is Brady. Then there's Kim and her boyfriend Jared and…I don't think I could even name them all. But Brady is the one I'm closest too."

"When will we meet this 'Brady'?"

"I thought you were going to ground me for skipping school?"

"O-oh, we are!" She assured me.

"Then you'll meet him whenever I'm un-grounded." I told her with a pout, crossing my arms. _Or never if I can help it. Stupid parents grounding me. This is so----grrr!_

My phone rang.

"Hello?" I answered. Starey left me alone in the living room.

"Hey, it's Brady," Brady said on the other end.

"As if I wouldn't recognize your voice," I teased, rolling my eyes.

"It's only polite to introduce yourself," Brady defended, "But if it makes you happier than I'll just not introduce myself next time. But you might think it's a creeper, like the text messages."

"Good point. I guess I did earn the introduction. So when do you want to hang out today?" I glanced at the clock as I asked, checking the time. It read 7:01.

"Are you busy right now?" Brady asked.

"No but I'm going to be grounded soon so I'll have to slip out before any questions are asked. Where do you wanna go?"

Brady thought for a moment.

"I don't know, we've pretty much done everything I usually do short of cliff diving and vampire hunting. Any of those sound fun to you?" He asked sarcastically.

"I'm going to have to say no…" Then the girly-er side of me took over, "How about we go out to eat at a nice restaurant?!"

I listened as Brady let out a long breath,

"If you want. There's only one fancy restaurant close by that we can afford, though."

"You make that sound like a bad thing?"

"I mean…we're going to be running into some friends…we could hang out at my place instead?"

"Friends? What friends? Which friends? Who's going to be there?!" I asked, suddenly curious and excited about the idea of a potential double date.

Brady sighed,

"Uh…" he seemed uncomfortably, "Emma's going on a date their tonight. SO instead we c-"

"OH MY GOSH! Now we _have_ to go! C'mon, Brady! Let's crash Embry's date! _Plllleeeaasseee?_" I begged.

"You really want to?" He asked, sounding more open to the idea.

"YES!" I exclaimed, totally excited.

"Alright, then I'll come pick you up now."

"Okay, love you, see you in a few minutes. Don't forget to dress nice-ish."

"No problem. Love you too."

I smiled and hung up the phone.

**Hugo Hampshire's **Point of View

"Good evening, do you have a reservation?" I asked the couple that had just entered Gavivi's (the fine restaurant I work at.)

The young lady with fluffy hair was standing on her toes to scan the dining tables. Her eyes fleeted around the room as the gentleman escorting her looked at me directly on, answering my question.

"No, we did not." He had broad shoulders and dark, short-cropped hair. His face was wide but his eyes and mouth were shaped so perfectly it would make any other man jealous. Not to mention the natural chemistry he had with his date, now _that_ was just embarrassing for a single man like myself to watch. It made me feel like I had failed just that much more in the dating field. "We're meeting friends, though." He added on reluctantly, seemingly an after thought.

The girl had fixed her eyes on a table. I glanced over at her; examining her beautiful dress for perhaps a moment too long…the man followed my eyes to her, and then followed her eyes to a table in the dining section.

"Ah, see? They're right over there." The tall, bronze guy nodded in the direction of a table. I did not turn around to look; instead I whipped out my pen and asked for their names.

"Audrine and Brady," the male said, shifting his weight uncomfortably as the young woman now clung to his arm and pointed to their friends, whispering various observations in his hear with great enthusiasm.

"Audrine? May I ask how is that spelled?" I was not familiar with the girl's name. She tore her gaze away from her friends table and politely smiled at me, looping her arm with her dates.

"It's A-U-D-R-I-N-E." She spelled out, her voice a pleasant tone.

"Thank you," I replied courteously.

The Brady fellow gave me a suspicious look, really examining me for the first time.

"And the name of your friends, please?" I asked, already searching the list for couples. I already knew the answer; I have served three similar looking guys in my career in this fine establishment of Gavivi's: all of which have been tall, muscular, bronze men with female dates whom they have been totally devoted to.

"Uh, if they have a reservation it would be under Embry, I think." The young woman told me.

I raised my eyebrows and checked off the names I had expected them to say: Embry and Aria.

_Peculiar, they only have reservations for two. _

"…They are expecting you, correct?" I asked, questioning the validity of their claims to be part of a group.

The young man looked as if he was going to be sick. The young woman smiled deviously, as if she had been caught.

"We're crashing their date," she announced.

The young man now looked pale-ish, staring away from us in an ashamed manner.

_I suppose this wasn't _his_ idea._

I was quite sure that this fancy restaurant was not a place that tolerated date-crashing, but I myself was not a fan of these tall, bronze, men and would enjoy watching some dispute between them, at their expense.

"Wonderful," I said, collecting two menus from the lower shelf in the podium and leading the couple past a few dining tables.

Luckily, the bronze man from the other couple was much quieter than I had expected him to be. My last costumer that looked like him was extremely rude. _Jared, I think his name was._

Yes, that was it. Some Jared fellow and his date Kim had dined here once.

Kim had originally come alone and I had been trying to flatter her with my manly charm when Jared had arrived.

But the couple that had been seated earlier today-only ten minutes before their 'date-crashers' entered- have so far done nothing but exchange shy comments and order only water to drink.

_Perhaps disturbing them isn't the greatest of plans._

Keeping my cool, collected composure, I came to their table and politely placed another set of menus down next to them. The bronze male seemed confused and the young lady saw that 'Audrine and Brady' (as they had stated their names to be) were close behind me.

The girl-Aria- looked at her date in confusion, then scootched over to allow her friends into the booth with them.

I stepped away to the kitchen, keeping an eye on the table of young adults.

"Hi, guys!" The Audrine girl greeted, pushing her way into the booth next to a smiling Aria.

"Um, what are you doing here?" The young man named Embry asked the new couple unsurely. He seemed to be worried that his date had invited them without consulting him prior.

"Crashing your date, man." The male Brady explained unenthusiastically, forcing Embry to slide down the booth seat so he could sit next to him.

The Audrine girl smiled excitedly to her date, Brady. Brady smiled back but still had a sense of 'I don't want to be here' in his eyes.

"So, Aria," Audrine began, smiling widely, "How's your date going?" She seemed much more excited than Aria.

"Uh," Aria turned a shade darker, "It's good." She mumbled, looking very embarrassed.

"And Embry?" Audrine asked. Embry looked at her, not sure what she was asking. "Are you enjoying your date?"

Embry nodded, looking down at the table.

"Good because it took long enough for the two of you to start dating." Audrine told them. Embry now turned red as well.

Brady sighed and turned to his friend, Embry.

"You look nicer than I expected."

Embry looked up and raised his eyebrows at him, but did not say anything.

Audrine's POV

_Man is Embry shy around Aria! _

I remembered back to when I was dating him. He seemed so…so much more outgoing.

_I know that he used to be shy. But…he seemed over it. _

I reached across the table to bop Embry on the shoulder,

"Talk, mister! Just yesterday you couldn't shut up about how great Aria is. Now you're so quiet! C'mon!" I encouraged him to say something. Instead Embry just turned a deeper red and stole a quick glance at Aria to see what her reaction was. I also looked at Aria, but she was just staring at Embry, looking completely embarrassed.

I sent Brady a look that said, 'what do we do now?'

Brady just shrugged and reached his hand out across the table, taking my hand in his. I smiled at him shyly.

_Wait a minute…I'm not usually shy around anyone but Brady. Embry is shy mostly around Aria…_

It must have something to do with wanting the other person to think positively of you.

I care a lot about what Brady thinks of me, and Embry cares probably even more about what Aria thinks of him-especially because they don't talk much so he would never know if she really does like him or not.

_I figured it ooouuttt, figured, figured, it outtt!_

_Now how to fix it…_

I ran through a few ideas in my head, trying to think of something that would just about force Embry and Aria to talk to each other and become closer.

_Perfeeecttt!_

"Darling," I began, whispering to Brady quietly enough that it would be hard for Aria to hear me. Embry heard me, though, and looked hesitantly in my direction. I gave him a look to mind his own business and he looked back at Aria.

Brady was waiting for me to continue. I climbed out of the booth and pulled him with me.

"Come on, we're going somewhere else." I told Embry and Aria cheerfully. Embry just stared at me, not listening to me. But Aria began to climb out of the booth so Embry did the same.

"Where are we going?" Brady asked me, still holding my hand.

"To a dance." I announced. Aria's expression became anxious.

"You aren't that hungry, are you?" I asked, double-checking that Aria wasn't going to be starving without eating here.

"Uh, no." She said, sounding kind of scared of me. I chuckled, finding her sort of amusing to watch as she nervously stood as far away from me as she could.

Embry caught that she was scared of me and shifted so he was he closer to her.

I thought staring at them was weird so instead I watched from the corner of my eye as Embry put his arm behind her back, apparently keeping her safe from me.

It was hard to stop myself from squealing with excitement.

_Yay! Things with Embry and Aria are finally working out!_

Aria didn't react at all to Embry's touch, as if it was nothing or maybe she didn't know what to do.

_Well at least she's not scared of him touching her like I was._

I turned around with Brady to start walking towards the restaurant exit. As we all made our way outside, I discreetly pulled out my cell phone to text a quick message to Nessie who I had promised I would invite if I was in Port Angeles today.

And since I'm in Port Angeles, I'm inviting her to the club we're about to go to.

**ness meet me, brady, embry, & airia club**

A few seconds later I got a message back:

**Which club? And I believe it's spelled "Aria." **

I rolled my eyes at her perfect spelling.

**the one u pointed out to me when we were with rachel the other day**

I explained.

**Yes, I'll be there soon. I'll find Dee and bring her, too. **

Nessie quickly replied.

I put my phone away as we approached where Brady had parked next to Embry.

"Which car?" I asked.

"I'm not sitting in Brady's car." Embry insisted. "I'll drive."

We all agreed. I made Brady sit in the passenger's seat so I could talk to Aria in the back seat.

Unfortunately, Aria would only give monosyllabic answers so I didn't get anywhere with our conversation.

I gave Embry directions to the club. When we parked on a nearby street and walked up to the club, Aria looked terrified of all the people.

"There's no drinking in this club, strictly just dancing and music. I don't know the age limit but they basically let anyone in." I explained.

"You've been here before?" Embry asked. Aria was now just about hiding behind him.

"Don't look so shocked. I went here once with Nessie and Rachel. Only for a little while."

"They let little kids in?" Brady asked me, referring to Nessie.

"Nah, she snuck in. We hung out in the corner so no one really saw us."

"Is this supposed to be fun or something?" Embry asked, looking suspiciously at the club. I gave him a look.

"Just follow me. And hold Aria's hand, we don't want her to get separated." I instructed, smirking. I grabbed Brady's arm and Embry held out his hand for Aria. She quickly took it, moving close to him as we got closer to the club's entrance. The line was short and we got in quickly.

Inside, some sort of rock song was playing. It was loud and there were people everywhere.

"I know this song!" Aria exclaimed to Embry. He smiled,

"Cool. Do you wanna dance?" He asked. Aria blushed.

"I don't really dance very well," she explained.

"Hi, guys!" Dee came bouncing up to us, apparently excited to be crashing her older sister's date. Nessie was with her.

Brady's face was priceless. Totally disbelief and 'oh no'.

"How the hell did you get here?!" He demanded from Dee. She laughed,

"The magic of vampire driving. Gotta love it."

_I guess one of Nessie's family members gave them a ride. _

Brady scowled.

I patted his arm,

"It's okay, it'll be fun to have her here." He turned his gaze to me and his face softened, "Alright, if you say so."

"Hi, Aria!" Nessie greeted Aria. Aria smiled,

"Hello."

Nessie examined as all for a second,

"Did you ever think it was weird that Brady and Aria are about the same age and Audrine and Embry are the same age but Brady and Audrine ended up together while Embry and Aria are dating?" The beautiful, intelligent half-vampire inquired to Dee.

Dee giggled,

"It _is_ rather strange."

Embry and Aria were still holding hands. I think Embry had forgotten to let go of her hand once we got inside and Aria was just scared to pull hers away.

_They have to dance together. That will fix everything!_

Dee looked down at their joined hands and giggled again along with Nessie.

Aria turned red but Embry didn't seem to notice, instead he was looking at Aria's necklace. It was a magnificent blue and pink pearl necklace strung on a thin golden thread.

_How interesting…especially interesting how he would find that interesting…_

"Audrine?" Brady began, his head tilted down and his eyes looking up at me through his eyelashes, "Will you dance with me?" He asked quietly.

I smiled and nodded. He smiled his most charming smile and led me out to where the other people were dancing.

* * *

A little while after Brady and Me had danced; many of the people had started to leave the club. Nessie, Dee, Aria, Embry, Brady, and I all sat down on a few of the couches in a corner. Aria coughed from the cigarette smoke coming from a guy sitting by us. Embry looked concerned but he didn't say anything to her, instead he looked at Brady.

"Do you want to see if there are any other seats around here?" He asked. Brady nodded and the two of them left us girls to go looking around for any more available corner-seats.

"So…Aria," Dee began, smiling slyly.

"Stalking me much, Deanna?" Aria asked, suddenly becoming confident with Embry gone and her sister here.

"Oh no, I came here because I love clubbing so much."

Aria and Deanna laughed.

Both of their laughs sounded very similar, not that that should be surprising.

"So what's it like dating an older guy?" Nessie asked Aria. Aria seemed caught off-guard.

"Uh…I, er, try not to think about it that much. I mean, technically this is my only real date with him so far…"

"You have to admit it's weird that you're dating an _eighteen_ year old." Dee prompted her. Aria nodded,

"Yeah, it's weird. I mean…I like him, but it's like hard to believe that he likes me."

"Audrine has the exact reverse situation, right, Audy?" Nessie said to me. I grinned,

"Well, if you mean that I'm the eighteen year old dating the younger person then, yeah."

"Embry _does_ like you, Aria." Dee told her sister. I nodded wildly, quickly agreeing.

"It's true. Honest to God he talks about you _all the time_. I live right next door to him and I cannot get him to shut up. I promise he's a nice guy. You'll really love him once you get to know him."

Aria smiled,

"What exactly does he say about me?" She was curious. I smiled, happy to tell all of Embry's secrets away.

"_Weelll_, darling, he just never shuts up! Mostly he's talking about how frustrated he is that your relationship has not gotten very far. Besides that he's basically praising every single thing about you. He thinks your eyes are really pretty. And he's always afraid you won't understand about him. He wants you to understand…." I trailed off, my thoughts suddenly going to Brady.

_He has been trying so hard to make our relationship okay. I really ought to try harder myself. He's so cute and charming, so young and innocent. And yet mature in a way…from being a werewolf guy. _

"Aw, that's so sweet." Nessie said to Aria. Dee smiled along with Nessie.

"Aria and Embry sittin' in a tree-" Dee started to sing, but the guys were headed back our way so she stopped.

"I think it's time we got home." Dee said when the guys told us there were no other seats, "With the slow wolf-guy driving of ours it's going to take us an hour or so to get back."

Brady rolled his eyes at her and helped me out of my seat. Dee and Nessie followed after us to the exit and Aria took Embry's hand, causing him to blush and beam all at the same time.

We got to the exit. Nessie and Dee raced out to avoid the bouncer. Embry and Aria left after them and I held Brady back from leaving just yet.

"I just wanted to thank you for going along with this," I told him. He smiled charmingly.

"Of course, Audrine. It was fun to be around you, even if we were hanging around my third and second least favorite people in the world." Brady chuckled.

"You mean Embry and Dee? I almost forgot you don't like either of them," I laughed, "Sorry. But it's always nice to hang around you, too." I told him. He smiled like the fifteen year old boy he was.

"Let's get out of here now." I pushed past the people, pulling Brady with me, until we were outside.

"Audrine!" I heard Dee call from somewhere.

"Audy!" I heard Nessie also call. I spotted them beckoning me over from behind a dumpster near where Embry's car was parked.

I ran over to join them, leaving Brady to roll his eyes at Nessie and Dee.

"Look! Embry and Aria!" Nessie pointed out to in front of the car where Aria and Embry were talking and laughing about something I couldn't hear. "Aria was telling him about a time that her and Dee painted her parents' faces while they were asleep. It was when they were little, back when they lived in California. Embry thought it was really funny." Nessie explained. I nodded.

"It's good they are finally talking. Sometimes I wish they'd just fall in love already."

"You and me both," Dee agreed.

_Oh the irony, the irony that DEE would agree with that._

Nessie seemed to know what I was thinking because she giggled and then patted Dee on the shoulder, shaking her head.

"May I ask why you chose a smelly dumpster to eavesdrop behind?" Brady asked a bit too loudly.

Embry-who had been so focused on Aria's every word- looked over at us and grabbed Aria's hand, moving them away from where they were leaning against the car and opening the door of the passenger's seat for her. She beamed at him and slid into the car. He closed the door and glared at us as we all slowly emerged from behind the dumpster.

No one saying anything, Embry got into the drivers seat and we all squished into the back seat.

Embry dropped Brady and Me off at the restaurant so Brady could use his car to drive us home.

Brady dropped me off at my house while Embry was dropping Nessie, Dee, and Aria off by their houses (seeing as the Brentwoods and the Cullens are neighbors.)

Right before I got out of the car, I leaned over to kiss his cheek. He beamed at me and waved goodbye as he drove away.

It was only a little while later that Embry came home and was talking to me from his window about how Aria had told him to promise her he would come and visit her tomorrow at her house.

"I guess she had a good time," I told him, "I'm so glad for you."

And then Soaki wanted to talk to me.

**Thanks so much for reading this chapter! =D**

**PLEASE ****read my other story 7Eleven****!!**

**Thanks and pretty please review! **


	13. Charles

_Brady and Me_

Chapter 13

It's Monday.

I yawned and thanked my lucky stars as I climbed out of bed without having Embry already at his window trying to talk to me.

_He must have morning patrol._

_Whatever._

I went around my room getting ready for school.

_Stupid clothes, why can I never find any that matc-_

I gave up and settled with a gray sweat shirt and simple jeans. Sneakers completed the 'I don't care about what I look like in school' look.

I grabbed my bag and shouted bye to Soaki, Starey, and my dad as I rushed out my front door.

As I ran to my car- which had been broken a few days ago (hence my usage of Brady's piece of metal on wheels-) I was surprised to see one of the guys looking around the woods calling 'here, kitty,kitty.'

"Jared? What are you doing?" I asked him. He looked up and rolled his eyes,

"I'm looking for Kim's cat. The demon snuck out yesterday morning and she's scared it'll get run over or something."

_And knowing him, he'd do anything for Kim no matter how big of a fool it makes him look like._

I blinked, wondering why I even bothered asking.

"Kay, good luck with that." I turned and got into my car.

I drove up to Forks High School.

The most boringest place on earth.

I did well enough avoiding people last week. No one bothered to really talk to me except for a few 'hey, you're the new girl, right?' questions.

But today was different. I could tell already as I got out of my car and a girl across the lot- who usually seems like she's in her own little world- stared directly at me, curious.

She watched my every move as I grabbed my bag and headed into the school.

I had almost forgotten about the weird incident when she caught up to me in the hallway.

"Hi, are you Audrine?" She asked, looking harmless. I guessed she was a sophomore or junior.

"Yeah…"

"Oh, Aria Brentwood told me to say hi. I'm her friend, Amanda."

_Aria Brentwood? Embry's imprint?_

Amanda smiled nicely at me so I smiled back.

"She told you to say hi?" I asked, curious.

"Yeah. I bumped into her at a store the other day and I was talking about school and she asked if I knew you. I told her-"

Amanda stopped as a guy with wavy, short, black hair and golden eyes approached us. He only looked at her at first.

"Good morning," he smiled.

"Mornin', Charles." She replied, looking happy to see him.

"Hi," I waved to him, hoping I would maybe make some new friends. Not that I was really looking for any but, oh well.

He turned to me and stuck out his hand.

"Hello there, I almost ignored you, I apologize," he said formally.

I shook his hand for a second. His very _cold_ hand.

"I'm Audrine." I announced.

"Charles," he introduced.

I let go of his hand,

"You are both sophomores here?" I asked.

"Juniors." They both replied.

"Ah. Sorry. I thought it was one of the two."

They both nodded.

The bell rang.

"See you later," Amanda said to me, turning to the classrooms.

Charles waved by and followed close after her. With her back turned, I could see a weird look in his eyes.

Like she was something to eat.

_Odd._

My focus changed as I found that I had some random, folded, loose piece of paper in my bag. I sat down in homeroom and opened it, wondering where it came from.

_Audrine, _

_Meet me after school in the forest._

_ Love, _

_ Brady. _

Confusion drew its way across my face. Brady was being awfully formal.

_Silly little kid, he tries too much. _

But he's handwriting sucked so I could believe it was him.

I stuffed the paper in my pocket and looked forward to the end of the school day.

* * *

The forest by my school looked really cool from the inside out. I never really thought of exploring it before.

But I had to wait for Brady to show up, so I kept close to the school.

I was examining a leaf I had plucked off a tree (I was kind of bored just standing there) when a voice that was not Brady's started speaking to me.

Not even registering what they said, I looked up to see the pale junior from the hallway this morning staring at me expressionlessly. Or maybe even with the slightest hint of curiosity.

"What are you doing out here?" I asked him, still having no idea what he had said before. _It's the woods, its dark and scary in here. Don't you have homework or something, kiddo?_

He took a step towards me and smirked.

"What are _you_ doing in the woods?"

I blinked. _This isn't a game, freak. Just go…count your action figures or something._

He raised his eyebrows, waiting for an answer. I laughed despite myself.

"I'm waiting for something. You should go home." _Please._

"I think I'll stay. You're good company to keep." He was still smirking.

"_I_ am? Well, then…I mean, what about your friend, er, Amanda? I'm sure she'd love to hang out with you right now."

He shrugged,

"You smell good. She smells better. You save the best for last."

"What?"

I was confused as his eyes seemed to be black now. I could have sworn they were golden earlier.

_Save the best for…? What the heck? Is he like a cannibal or someth-_

He grinned widely at me,

"I have a change in plans. Let's say, I _don't_ hurt you and you come with me willingly."

"C-Come with you where?!"

"Hm, well I guess wherever it is I want to go. I'm rather spontaneous. But we'll stick around Forks; I need to still see Amanda. You'll just have to dedicate your life to me. I suppose you could say that's what you'll be doing either way; this choice just involves less- or no- pain."

"Dedicate my life to you…?" Brady came to my mind. _He_ wanted me to dedicate myself to him in a way.

Then everything came down to terms plain and simple.

"And you'll have to avoid those mutts for now on," He added, leaning against a tree, trying to look nonchalant but speaking very seriously.

_So it's him or it's Brady. It's a choice. _

I didn't really have any considering to do,- the instinct on who to choose was naturally there- but my mind took a minute to try and figure out how to escape my death.

"Brady," I whispered, to myself aloud.

"Tick tock tick tock. I'm getting hungry." He warned.

"I choose Brady!" I shouted at him, backing away towards the edge of the forest. He cracked a smile. "I choose _them_." _The wolf pack. _"I don't want to come with you." I finally gave an official answer.

He laughed,

"This should be interesting. I don't recall ever feeding on such a _willing_ human before."

Then he was suddenly in front of me.

His black eyes were petrifying.

I tried to turn and run but he grabbed my arm with his cold, rock-hard skin.

_Vampire._

A terrible growling sound came from a distance and then a snarling sound right behind the vampire, Charles.

"Brady!" I exclaimed, recognizing the wolf only split seconds before Charles- looking horrified- disappeared from the woods.

Brady growled, about to leap after him. More wolves came near me and I could tell from their eyes they were Taylor, Josh, and Embry.

Embry looked worried about me. Taylor had his focus on where the vampire had run off to, and Josh looked ready to start chasing after the vampire any second.

I supposed that Embry and Brady were fighting over what to do.

Suddenly, Brady snarled viscously and dashed off after Charles.

Taylor looked at Embry who nodded- probably didn't need to, seeing as they can hear each other's thoughts- and ran off to join Brady.

Josh, although he looked hyper and ready to run, was waiting with Embry for something.

_I hope they aren't staying for my sake; I could just go back to the school. Too many witnesses for Charles to try anything…right?_

Then two more wolves came, joining them.

One had their teeth showing, angry at the smell of the vampire, I suppose. The other was keeping close, seeming to be instructing the unfamiliar wolf.

This wolf was almost as big as Josh. Their fur was light brown with bits of white here and there.

It was very beautiful.

Their paws were larger then they proportionally should be, so they were young.

Puzzled, I stared at their eyes, trying to make a connection with a human.

They had beautiful, brown, small eyes.

Upon their arrival, Embry, Josh, the wolf I now saw was Seth, and the new wolf I did not recognize, all went dashing off to join Brady.

_Okay, what I was thinking before about not needing protection, I take it back. _

Knowing it was too late for that, I ran out to the parking lot and jumped into my car, driving back to my dad's house in La Push.

_ ______________

"Audrine!" Brady grabbed me around my waist and my back, picking me up, hugging me tightly and burying his head in the crook of my neck.

He didn't seem happy or relieved. It was like he was still worried about me and wanted to make sure I existed.

It was weird. I hadn't ever experienced anything like that before.

I of course automatically hugged him back.

After a long moment he lifted his head up and we looked at each other in the face.

"I tried to catch him but we lost his scent after he ran out of Forks," he explained solemnly, "The others are still looking."

I looked past his head to the open doorway, where I he just barely opened the front door before he pulled me into this hug.

I pulled my hands from around his neck to in between me and his warm chest. I stared at them, noting that I hadn't been biting my nails lately.

"Brady…what did he want?" I asked quietly.

I could tell he was still looking at me.

"We don't know why he singled out you. What were you doing in the woods? He must have been hunting and you were what he came across." Brady was trying very hard to keep his voice from cracking.

I looked back up at him.

"Being an idiot," I answered. Brady shook his head, as if he thought I could never be an idiot. "No, there was this note, in my bag. He tricked me. He was waiting for me there. He's a student at my school."

Brady looked angry now.

"Where's the note?" He asked. I blushed and looked away.

"Um, in my pocket."

He still didn't seem to notice I was implying he would have to put me down so I could get it.

With him holding me off the floor in his hug, it would be awkward for me to reach for the note…

"What does it say?" He asked.

I looked at him straight in the eye,

"You're going to have to let me go so I can read it to you." I explained. Expresionless, he placed me back down but didn't back up. I was still very close to him as I pulled out the note.

I didn't want him to see _how_ weak I was so I just handed it to him and looked away.

He was still staring at me as he unfolded it.

His eyes scanned it and then a mixture of anger and guilt filled his face.

"Audrine…you thought it was me waiting in the woods for you?"

"I didn't mistake you two, if that's what you're asking. But I believed that the note was from you."

Brady's eyes shut as he tried to calm himself down.

I frowned as a long list of unnecessary harsh names came from his lips.

He _really_ wants to kill Charles now.

"I won't let him hurt you," he promised me, sounding furious as he stepped back out of my front door.

He glanced back at me once and I nodded. He looked down and then ran back off the forest.

I scratched the back of my neck awkwardly as Soaki came towards the front door.

"What are you looking at?" She asked, leaning out into the front yard to see why I was standing with the door wide open.

"Nothing." I said, leaving to my bedroom.

Embry still wasn't home.

_Looks like he, Josh, Taylor, and Seth are all working over time to compensate for all the time they spent at the Brentwoods' (the house of Embry, Josh, and Seth's imprints.)_

I still wondered who that new wolf was and scolded myself for not asking Brady while I had the chance.

Since I have had other freak-out-worthy experiences, I was able to shake off this one rather quickly.

About an hour later, Brady rang my doorbell again. My dad answered it. I watched from the kitchen, waiting for the right time to intervene.

"Hi, I'm Brady. Is Audrine here?" Brady asked, looking anxious to see me. I hoped there wasn't anymore bad news.

My dad hesitated and my stepmom, Starey, stepped on in.

"Audrine's grounded," she explained, "But it's nice to meet you, Brady. Audrine told me the other day you're her best friend."

Brady- who seemed distracted before- now looked at Starey with a frown.

"I'm a little more than just her best-"

I jumped in.

"Hi, Brady! I'm so sorry I can't hang out right now," I fake pouted and then turned to my parents, "Is it okay if I just talk to him outside for a minute."

"Sure." My dad said.

"Why can't you say it in front of us?" Starey asked.

I glared at her and pushed at Brady so he would back up to the front yard. He did and I closed the door behind us, trying to ignore where Starey watched us from the window.

"What is it now?" I asked, afraid of more vampires.

"Nothing. We couldn't find him again. Jake's making some of the guys stay out all night to keep an eye out but we have a feeling he's not coming near the rez."

"What about when I leave the rez? For school? And he could be feeding on someone else right-"

"Don't worry about everyone else. You'll drive yourself insane," Brady advised me, "As for school…you obviously can't go. Come with me tomorrow, you can skip and I'll be with you the whole day so that filthy bloodsucker can't get you."

I shifted my wait,

"I'm, um, kind of grounded for skipping…"

Brady gave me a look,

"This is a life or death situation, Audrine. _Please_ skip with me."

"Now you sound like Embry," I recalled. He scowled,

"This is different."

"It is." I agreed, "Okay, fine, I'll skip with you. But ONLY because it's a life or death situation."

Brady smiled.

"Thank you."

There was a moment where we didn't say anything.

"Be careful while you're out there…hunting or whatever it's called, darling." I requested.

He nodded,

"And stay away from anyone who was friends with that bloodsucker, Audrine."

I thought of that girl Amanda and hoped she was alright.

"Yeah," I promised.

I glanced at the window, happy to see Starey gone. I leaned up to kiss Brady and he leaned down once he realized this. We only kissed for a second.

"Go to Emily's tomorrow, I'll be there."

I nodded and he jogged back off to the woods.


	14. I Don't Get Boys

_Brady and Me _

Chapter 14

Boys.

_I don't understand them at all, Darling. _

It's been awhile since Charles was last spotted. At one point the pack caught him, with the help of the Cullens, but then he vanished. Since then, Brady doesn't like to talk about the whole incident.

All things considered, I thought I was not too shabby at knowing what Brady's trying to get at when he talks to me…_for the most part…_

But not so much for the particular conversation I was having with my 'too-young-for-me-legally-speaking' boyfriend currently on my couch.

"Look, I know it's kind of late right now, but, maybe we could watch the sunset." Brady's arm was tossed over my shoulders as we sat back watching some movie that was on TV.

I tried to examine his face in the dim lighting (we turned most of the lights off in my living room so we could have a 'movie theater' atmosphere. I even had made popcorn.)

_Mircowave popcorn…_

I gave up trying to read his expression and moved my eyes over to the digital clock across the room.

_10:30_

_Darling, I don't know where the sun is setting right now but sure isn't on this Reservation_.

"Today?" I asked him.

"Yeah," he nodded. I bit my lip,

"I don't know what you mean," I admitted.

"You know, watch the sunset."

"No, Darling, I get _that_ part but…but…it's like ten at night."

"Well, what can I do instead?"

…_?..._

I just looked at him in confusion, my head resting on his arm. He sighed,

"You know, something romantic."

I bit my bottom lip again and glanced down at my floor, trying to think of something 'sunset-like'.

"You don't like the popcorn?" I questioned, plucking out a piece from the bowl of butter-y, salty popped corn on my lap.

Brady looked at the piece of popcorn,

"No, I like the popcorn. But is it what you were imagining?"

I furrowed my eyebrows, lost.

"Was the microwave popcorn what I imagined it to be?" I pulled my eyes back to his and he just looked back at me, waiting for my answer. "Um, yeah? I really didn't expect that much from it…"

He looked hurt,

"Do you not expect much from me?"

"What?"

_Darling, this is getting crazy…when did we start talking about Brady?_ Brady Rose=Microwave Popcorn?

He just looked at me, his eyes looking very hurt and pouty. "Brady, I don't have expectations for you; you can just be you, I like you."

He looked down. "Brady? Brady, what's wrong?" I pressed my forehead against his. He looked back up at me,

"So, you don't think I'm any different to you?"

"What? Different from what?"

"Do I make you feel special?"

"Special?" Right after my question, the alarm we had set on the digital clock went off.

Brady took a deep breath,

"I have to go."

"I know." It was time for his shift.

I expected him to say goodbye to me but he paused, frozen for a moment.

"Are you going to hug me or kiss me?" I asked, unsure of what was going on. He shook his head, as if to clear it and pulled me into a big hug while placing a kiss on my cheek.

"Have a goodtime," I told him, hugging him back.

"I'll try, but having a shift with Josh and Alan isn't exactly a relaxing experience."

I laughed,

"Okay, well, keep them safe."

"No promises."

He smiled with me and then I walked him to the door, watching as he ran into the forest.

Walking back into my living room, I realized I had to clean up all the popcorn that had someone gotten on the floor and fold the blankets we had been using back up.

_Just great, darling._

I sighed and got on my hands and knees, collecting the spilt popcorn by hand. Once I was finished with that, I picked up the first blanket and began to fold it.

_Buzzz_, _buzz_, _BUZZZZZ_

I grabbed my cellphone and answered it, holding it in between my ear and shoulder, still trying to fold the blanket at the same time.

"Hello?"

"Hey, is this Audrine?"

"_Tell her I'm asking for her, I need her_," someone moaned in the background.

I stopped folding the blanket.

"Yeah, I'm Audrine."

"Can you come over to Jake's house? Embry needs you."

_Oh no_…

I started to run up my stairs to my room.

"What happened?" I asked, "And who is this?"

"Oh, it's Quil. He just…drank too much."

"_Tell her what happened_," Embry sounded awful as he spoke. Then I heard something that sounded like he was throwing up.

"He drank too much and unimprinted on Aria," Quil explained.

"_Ohhh_," I felt so bad for him, listening as more sounds of pain came from the background, "Oh no, I feel so bad for him, tell him I'll be right there, I'm grabbing my keys now." As I spoke I pulled on my sneakers, picked up my coat from the floor, and searched the top of my desk for my car keys.

"She say's she's getting her keys right now," Quil told Embry right before he hung up the phone.

I wasn't surprised that Embry had gotten alcohol poisoning. I knew that those mornings he had nasty headaches weren't from a sinus problem, like he tried to tell his mom. I wasn't sure how often he drank, but from what Brady told me, it takes a lot to really get one of the guys drunk.

_Not exactly comforting to hear him say that, I must admit…_

Almost forgetting to lock the front door on my way out, I jumped into the driver's seat and started the car.

It was hard not to speed down the empty roads as I headed towards the end of the Reservation. Finally, after what seemed to be the slowest moments of my life, I pulled up to Jacob Black's small house. Quickly parking the car, I made my way to the door.

I knocked, trying to calm myself down. _I'm here, stop trying to rush, I'm here already._

"Jake?" I heard a deep voice ask, as they opened the door. I found myself facing Seth Clearwater and Dee. It was so much nicer to see them happily together now that Dee has joined the pack and imprinted on Seth.

"Oh, hi guys!" I greeted, trying to be friendly.

_I must remember my manners even if I'm in a serious situation_. "Where is he?" I asked, spotting Quil.

"Brady's on shift…" Seth answered, confused.

_Oh, how embarrassing, he thinks I'm here for Brady!_

Quil and I exchanged looks. Patting Seth's shoulder, Quil tilted his head towards Dee and said,

"You might want to leave."

_I guess he didn't tell them about Embry's situation…_

I was getting impatient.

_I heard him throwing up…he must be in the bathroom…_

"She's going to find out later, anyways," Seth said to Quil, talking about Dee. I ignored Quil's anxious expression and moved past them to the bathroom. They all followed.

Stepping into the small room, I took in the image of a helpless Embry sitting on the floor, an arm over his stomach and _hurt_ stitched into every fiber of his face.

My heart broke. Immediately, I knelt down next to him and placed a hand on his forehead,

"Poor thing. You look awful, Darling."

Embry's eyelids lifted up, revealing his blood-shot eyes,

"Thanks for coming, Audrine."

I heard Quil mumble something about Brady not being okay with me being here, but I kept my attention on helping sick Embry. I wiped off some of the beads of sweat on his forehead near his hairline with my thumb.

"What happened? You drink too much again?" Seth asked.

_I wish he would leave Embry alone right now_.

Embry chuckled, weakly. I sat down on the floor as he held up a small flask in his hand.

"Yeah, but, I lost track of what I was drinking."

Brady had mentioned to me something about a scientist from the tribe creating a potion that (if a werewolf drinks it) can cause them to no longer feel like they had imprinted. Besides that, Brady didn't say much about it. He seemed to think it was sort of a stupid idea to worry about. Regardless, I knew Embry must feel awful.

"Did Quris give you that? He gave me a bottle," Seth told Embry.

"No," Embry shook his head. _No, don't move your head! _I didn't want him to even be talking._ You need to be resting, Darling._ "It was that other guy, you know, his assistant."

"Zachary," Dee said quietly. I guess she knew the name of the assistant.

"So…What happened?" Seth wondered.

_That little…! SHUT UP!_ I shot Seth a look.

Quil's eyes drifted awkwardly down to his feet.

"What? He hasn't said yet!" Seth defended, innocently.

"Let's put it this way," Embry began. I watched him carefully as he spoke; worried it was too much for him to say out loud. "We can't tell Aria."

"What? You're not going to tell her?" I exclaimed, upset.

"She doesn't think anyone should try it, she probably will never speak to me again if I tell her I unimprinted."

"You're right," Seth agreed.

_I can't believe this. Boys don't make any sense. _

"So do we have a deal?" Embry asked everyone. There was silence at first.

"Oh come on, think about what happened when we told Quris about Collin. We have to let people keep their secrets!" Embry insisted.

_Quris must be the scientist._

Dee nodded to Seth,

"We won't tell," he promised.

"Thanks," Embry rested his head back against the wall, closing his eyes.

Examining his face, the feeling of pity and sympathy filled up inside of me again and I glanced to make no one else was looking as I carefully reached out and gently took Embry's hand in mine.

Conveniently, Seth, Dee, and Quil all stepped out of the room a moment later.

Embry opened his eyes, looking across the narrow bathroom at me. And that's how we stayed, looking at each other, holding hands. The minutes passed by, feeling long and stretched out as I searched my friend's eyes for some sort of…of…

_Darling, I don't even know_.

Maybe it was my imagination, but I felt like Embry and I had shared a special moment.

"Do I have something on my face?" Embry asked.

I frowned.

_Apparently not._

"I don't get you guys," I mumbled, letting go of his hand, picking up a washcloth, and leaning towards him. "I'll drive you home," I told him, wiping his face clean of sweat.

**Thanks for reading! Please PLEASE please REVIEW!**

-Ria M. Write


	15. There are Clouds Where I Live

_Brady and Me_

Chapter 15: There are Lots of Clouds Where I Live

Clouds.

I tipped up my head to peer at the many clouds lining the sky this morning.

_He better show up soon, Darling._

"Sorry, I'm late."

I turned to see Brady jogging towards me from the woods.

"What happened? You told me 10:30 _sharp_." I was secretly examining his face as I spoke, trying to detect any stress.

_He looks pretty calm for someone who's late…_

"I'm used to Collin waking me up in the morning," was all he offered as his excuse.

"Where was he this morning?"

Brady sighed,

"I guess he's moving out."

"To where?" I was surprised.

"Since his Dad is back again, they are going to get a place."

"Oh." I placed a hand on Brady's shoulder, "I'm sorry."

Brady smiled,

"Oh, I'll be fine."

_You say that now…_

I looked down at our feet and saw that Brady's were bare.

"Where are your shoes?" I demanded.

Brady reached for my hand while he answered,

"At my house. Why?"

"Because you're walking in bare feet in snow, Darling…"

Brady shrugged,

"It's comfy."

"The snow?"

"Not wearing shoes," he chuckled.

_So he decided to actually wear a shirt for once but no shoes…*sigh*_

"Which way do you want to walk?" He asked me.

I looked down the road,

"I guess we could just go around the streets."

Brady nodded and we started to move along the road.

"So, have you spoken to Emma recently?" He questioned, curiously.

"Not since I drove him home that night…" I answered, questioning in my head why Brady wanted to know.

Brady looked out, down the street,

"He hasn't tried anything on you, has he?"

"What?" My voice revealed my disbelief.

Brady looked at me,  
"I just am worried that since he unimprinted-"

"That he's going to magically like me again? Brady!" I was outraged. I stopped walking and totally faced him, "How dare you think that! Embry is hurt about all of this, Darling!"

"So hurt that he hasn't even talk to you about it since that night?" Brady said, looking in hurt that he had upset me, "Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you angry."

"What are you suggesting?" I sneered.

"I just hope that he isn't avoiding you because of his feelings…I mean, he liked you before he imprinted."

_Darling, does Brady still really feel that threatened?_

"Brady," I hugged him, tightly, and he returned my embrace, "I'm not going anywhere."

Brady's arms were holding me as if I could get away at any moment, and as if he did not want me to leave him ever.

"I love you, Audrine," he said, his voice borderline helpless-sounding, "I really, really don't want there to be any problems with us."

I sighed,

"Darling, you're _fabricating_ the threats," I assured him, "Put down your needle and thread; relax. We're O.K."

He loosened his hold enough for me to pull away a little and look him in the eyes.

"Okay," he complied, "You're right. Thanks."

I smiled,

"That's better, Darling." I let go of him and turned to start walking again, realizing a girl was down the street, watching us.

Brady saw her, too,

"Don't mind her, that's Kim's little sister."

"Really?" I was surprised that he knew her.

"Yeah, I've seen her in Jared's thoughts before."

"Oh."

Brady looked back at me,

"That reminds me, there's a bonfire tonight that we're going to."

"Thanks for inviting me," I said, sarcastic. _Apparently now it's just assumed that I'm going to be making an appearance at these things._

Brady frowned and kissed my cheek,

"Please will you be my date to tonight's bonfire?" He asked, getting down on one knee and holding my hand. I laughed, his face looked so cute when he looked up at my through his eyes lashes.

"I would love to," I responded. He smiled as he stood up again and we finally continued our walk.

"It was just that this is sort of a really important meeting tonight, so I really want you to go," Brady explained, "There are these two new pack members joining. They moved here. One's from Spain and the others from New York."

I raised my eyebrows,

"Wow. That's different."

"Yeah, I know. The bonfire is to introduce them to everyone."

Brady hooked arms with me and we turned and started down a different street.

We watched as a tall, muscular Quileute girl and a teenage boy with red hair walked out of Seth and Leah's house.

"That's one of them," Brady told me, meaning the girl was one of the new pack members he was just talking about.

"Let's not go too far, we don't want to get lost. And it looks like it's going to rain," we heard the girl say down the street as she looked up at the clouded sky. I couldn't stop from laughing. They spotted us.

"It always looks like that!" I told the girl as we approached them.

The boy zipped up his sweater. The looked at him (I could tell by the way she checked on him before she spoke that she must have imprinted on him,) then to Brady,

"Hi, I'm Courtney. You must be in the pack."

_Oh sure, darling, just ignore me. _

Brady smiled to be friendly,

"Yup, Brady," he replied, shortly. I pushed myself into the conversation,

"And I'm Audrine, who are you?" I asked the boy.

"Jack," he answered, looking awkward.

"Nice to meet you," I said to both of them, hoping I was leaving a good first impression.

"Same," Jack smiled.

_Well at least one of them is friendly._

"Where are you going?" I asked, trying to make small talk.

"Uh, not sure," Courtney said, shrugging, "Just out for a walk."

"Oh, why don't you join us?" I offered, "Brady and I were doing the same."

At this point I wondered if Brady was even paying attention to the conversation. He was being very quiet.

Just as I suspected she would, Courtney looked at Jack instead of answering herself. Jack smiled to her and then said to me,

"Sounds fun."

Courtney smiled in return,

"You guys are going to be at the bonfire tonight, right?" she asked Brady and Me.

"Oh, yeah. Of course. Brady would be in _so much trouble_ if he didn't go. It's like your welcome party!" I exclaimed.

Courtney laughed,

"Oh. Got it."

"Shall we?" I said, suggesting to begin our walking. We did.

There was silence for a little while. I searched for something to say but luckily Brady spoke up and saved me,

"How's living with Seth?" He asked Courtney and Jack.

"Fine. It's nice of him to let us stay in his room," Courtney replied.

Brady nodded,

"Yeah, I don't think he actually minds that much. Don't give him too much credit for that."

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"Well, where do you think he's sleeping if its not in his bed?" Brady pointed out.

"He says he's staying with a friend," Courtney told us.

Brady chuckled and then I realized what was going on,

"Oh! Darling, wow. Of _course_ he'd stay with Dee! I remember way back to the first bonfire I went to and how Dee forced Seth to stay away from her as much as he possibly could. _Of course_ he would spend every minute close to her now that he could!"

"Yup," Brady chuckled, unhooking our arms and wrapping his arm around me instead.

It was obvious Jack wasn't listening at all, he was staring off in the distance. Courtney looked both confused and interested, however.

"Oh it's such a _drama_," I explained to her, "You see, there's this girl named Dee who moved to Forks a couple months before I moved here. Seth imprinted on her but she didn't want _anything _to do with him. She only hung out with the pack because she decided it was better than him showing up at her house. This went on for _months_. It _killed_ Seth that she didn't like him. But, then, some of the other guys imprinted on her sisters, too, so she ended up having pack guys at her house anyways. One of the guys who imprinted on her little sister was Josh. Josh was her best friend before he imprinted on her sister. Dee ended up getting jealous that Josh was only hanging around her sister now. That's what triggered it."

"Triggered it?" Courtney asked.

"Her phasing. She became a werewolf. She was on the phone with Josh when it happened. Some of the guys had kind of suspected it was going to happen eventually, because she is actually half Quileute and had been suddenly getting taller and stuff before that. She ended up imprinting on Seth back. It was a shock to the whole pack. Now they are all 'happy-ever-after-y.'"

Courtney laughed,

"Wow. That is kind of like a soap opera."

After Courtney and Jack went back to their house, Brady suggested we go to his house since we were closer to it than to mine.

He opened the front door and I walked in behind him, suddenly feeling nervous. I had never actually been inside of Brady's home before.

The sound of a loud TV came from the living room. Brady followed it, finding his grandfather watching the news.

"Good morning, Pa," Brady said, walking up to the very old man and kissing his cheek.

_Is it really still morning?_

His grandfather looked at him and Brady spoke louder, "I brought a friend, my Audrine," Brady said to him.

The man's eyes moved over to me and I did my best to smile nicely. Brady smiled at me,

"Don't worry, he knows who you are. I've told him all about you."

Brady had told me before that his grandfather was hard of hearing and never leaves his house, so I had always felt sort of bad for the old man. But seeing him made me feel even worse for Brady. Brady's only family is his grandfather. No parents. No siblings. Not even a roommate now that Collin has moved out.

I felt kind of guilty, actually.

_Darling, I have TWO sets of parents and a little sister. _

I felt like I should share or something.

His grandfather smiled,

"Now, Audrine, you listen to me," he began, speaking to me, "If you ever have a jar of cookies, keep them away from Brady."

I laughed as he continued, "He will eat them all."

Brady's face turned red,

"That was _once_," he explained to me, "I don't know what he's talking about."

His grandfather shook his head,

"No, I used to make cookies for him all the time. Chocolate-chip cookies. But he would eat them all, no matter how many I made, before they were even finished cooling."

"I really liked chocolate-chip cookies, okay?" Brady said defensively, "C'mon, I'll show you my room, Audrine. Bye, Pa."

Brady quickly left the room and I trailed after him up the wooden stairs.

I expected him to go into one of the rooms, but instead he leaned back against the wall in the call hallway.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

He shrugged,

"Nothing. Sorry about him. He's getting sort of random and crazy with old age."

"Well I think he's fine, darling."

"What's that?" I asked him, walking into one of the rooms that had an open door and grabbing a drawing.

"Oh, that's something I drew when I was little."

I looked at him,

"It's of clouds."

He shrugged,

"That's what the weather was like a lot of the time."


	16. Embry Slept on My Couch

_Brady and Me_

Chapter 16: Embry Slept on My Couch

Embry Call.

Oh, darling….oh, poor Embry Call.

All he has to do with his life is run around in the pack when it's his shift or otherwise sit in his small house with his depressed mother.

Or, if not those things, he can also spend time with Aria Brentwood. But now that he's unimprinted on her, things between them are shaky. So Embry's life's meaning relies really on the pack- the pack which is so big now that he only is on shift for a few hours of the day.

These are the things I have come to think about in my free time, in the moments I have daydreaming my school classes away. When my mind drifts into my worries and I wonder why Embry drinks.

These are the things, darling, which I have collected as excuses for Embry's problem.

Such excuses are quite helpful to think about when Embry, my good friend, comes stumbling, drunk, through your front door at 1 in the morning. It was a lucky thing that my parents were off on a trip and Soaki at my Mom's house.

The excuses redeemed enough of my patience so that I didn't drag Embry next-door and hand him over to his mother, as I very much would have liked to. _Saves me some trouble, Darling. _But I thought about the excuses I had conjured up and that calmed me down. Loosening my heart, I let him sleep on the couch.

Luckily, he didn't throw up or anything like I had feared he might. He wasn't drunk enough or something. But darling, I slept down on the living room floor near him anyway, just in case he got sick. I didn't want him to die. I was scared and worried about him, even if it was his own fault. I had seen my fair share of partiers before I moved her. Getting drunk isn't pretty, that's for sure.

I don't know why he came to my house instead of going home. He must have gone home drunk before? _Yes, darling, he must have._

Maybe, just maybe, he knew my parents were out and figured it would get him in less trouble with his mom if she didn't see him drunk.

_But what about the trouble he will get in for got coming home? _

_Darling, I don't understand_.

For whatever the reason, Embry Call was fast asleep on my couch, using a sheet as a blanket, and making my living room smell a sort of strange scent.

And here I was, standing near my front door, staring at him, waiting for Brady who should be done with his shift by now; it is 9:20.

My eyes moved along Embry's face as I waited; his hair, semi-greasy and in need of washing, his smooth, tan forehead, his dark eyebrows, stretching above each of his eyes, his thin nose and gentle eyelids, outlined by his black lashes. His cheeks had some color in them, as if he were too hot, but it was cold inside my house. His lips, however, were lacking their normal pinky color, as if he were very cold. His chin seemed to almost twitch as he breathed.

I heard footsteps up to the door and broke out of my gaze, turning and unlocking the door to let Brady in. Once I had the door open, Brady's hands were on my face and his lips were locking with mine. He broke away and smiled at me,

"I missed you."

"Oh," I was still in surprise from the sudden kiss, "Darling," I tried to focus, "I missed you too."

Brady stepped past me into the house and then closed the door for me. He wrapped his hands around my waist, under the back of my shirt.

"You're so pretty," he told me, his eyes running up and down my face.

I laughed nervously,

"Brady, look behind you."

He turned his head, not letting go of me. At first he seemed not to notice Embry, but then he did a double-take. I took his hands off of me and moved so we were both facing Embry, shoulder-to-shoulder.

"He's sleeping?" Brady observed, voice a pathetic, helpless sort of tone. I suppose he felt as if Embry had won something, judging from his disappointed sort of sad whine.

"Yeah, darling, I told you he was here," I reminded him, referring to when he called me this morning before his shift started.

"You said you two were hanging out."

"Yes, darling." _We _are_ hanging out_.

"He's asleep," Brady pointed out.

"So?"

"So…" Brady looked exasperated as he wrapped an arm around my waist, "That's not really hanging out. Why is he sleeping here?"

"He's been here since last night," I finally confessed just as Brady's eyes caught sight of the sleeping bag I had been using.

"…Audrine…"

Embry stirred, waking up. He sat up and peered squinty-eyed over at Brady.

"Oh, Brady," he clearly wasn't expecting to see him, "Sorry, man, I didn't think you'd be here before I left." Embry cleared his throat.

"Oh, good, so you _are_ leaving?" Brady's voice was suddenly nasty, unlike the innocent, sadden boy he had been to me. I looked at him in disbelief.

Embry stood up and ran a hand through his short hair,

"I'm sorry, Brady. I realize this must be uncomfortable for you."

"You could have at least _said_ something to me about this." I didn't know what Brady meant by that. When would have Embry been able to tell Brady?

Embry assumed Brady was just angry and not making any sense because of it,

"Calm down, Brady. You don't have to throw a tantrum just because I slept over. It's not like she _cheated_ on you."

Brady's face turned a deep red. Embry continued.

"It's not like I _kissed her cheek_ and _professed my love for her_."

I realized what was going on. Embry was angry too. _Darling, he's talking about when Brady imprinted on me. When Brady kissed my cheek and_ _told me he loved me while I was still dating Embry_.

_This is awkward_.

So awkward.

Brady's face was a cherry red. He was hugging me now, facing me with both arms around me, but he was looking at Embry,

"Just go away, you-"

"I was about to!" Embry snapped back, passing us and turning the doorknob.

"Wait!" I called out to Embry, pushing away Brady's arms. Brady looked hurt as I walked to Embry and put a hand on his shoulders,

"Can we talk for a minute, please?"

"Audrine, I don't have that much time with you; tonight I'm babysitting with Collin," Brady told me, pleading for me to not ask him to be far enough away that Embry and I could have a private conversation without him over hearing.

"It'll just be a second," I promised, looking at Brady. Embry turned to me and I looked back at him,

"Please?"

"Just make it quick," Embry mumbled, moving away from the door. Brady knew that meant I was asking him to leave. He moved close to me and leaned down, kissing me for a few moments before leaving out the front door. Embry and I avoided eye contact and silently waited so that Brady would not hear

"When will he come back?"

* * *

**Please review =)**

**-Ria M. Write. **


	17. Embry Has a Girlfriend Named Aria

Brady and Me

Chapter 17: Embry Has a Girlfriend Named Aria

"When will he come back?" Embry asked me.

"Maybe in twenty minutes. Or less," I replied, considering Brady was probably running to get out his hurt, upset feelings so it would take a little while to get back.

"Is that really enough time?" He asked, wondering how much I really had to say. There was a sort of omniscience in his words…as if maybe he felt that there would never be enough time for us alone, together.

I shrugged, stopping myself from feeling weird,

"I only wanted to know if your head hurts. I didn't want you to have to leave like that."

"You're willing for Brady to have to leave instead?" I didn't like how he phrased it so it was as if I put him above Brady.

"I will have time to fix Brady's feelings when he comes back," I explained.

Embry sighed,

"I do have a headache. Is that all you want to know?"

I thought for a second, wondering how I could fix things,

"When can we hang out again?"

Embry looked away, thinking,

"Brady said he's babysitting tonight. Want some company?"

"What would we do?" I asked, trying to ignore how easily misinterpreted his question could be.

"I know, we could watch a movie. It'd be cool. I'll see you then, kay?"

"What time?" I asked.

"I'll just watch to see when Brady leaves."

There was an awkward silence. Embry held his arms open for a hug. I hugged him,

"Feel better, Embry."

"Thanks, Audrine."

Embry left and I sat in my kitchen until Brady finally came back. He was out of breath and didn't say anything, letting himself in and finding me. He hugged me. Neither of us spoke.

Then, after a few minutes, I turned and put both of my hands on each side of his face. I kiss him.

"I'm happy," I told him, "You make me happy, darling." That cheered him right up, making him smile.

He hugged me tighter and kissed me on the cheek,

"I love you," he whispered, "I'm sorry that I can't hang out with you tonight." I felt him sigh with sadness.

"Who are you babysitting?" I asked.

"Courtney and Jack's kid."

My eyes popped out of my face.

"_They have a KID_, Darling?" I hissed, shocked and caught off guard. Brady chuckled,

"Kind of. He's not_ theirs_, technically. It's actually Jack's little brother, Alex. But Courtney and Jack are raising him now. Courtney's shift starts at 9 and Jack has to go somewhere."

"What about Sue? Aren't they still staying with the Clearwaters?"

"They are but Sue is going to Charlie's house for dinner."

"What about Leah?"

Brady chuckled,

"I don't know all the details, just that Collin is babysitting Alex and asked me to help." Brady kissed my cheek again,

"Wanna come?"

"No thanks," I quickly responded.

Brady kissed my lips,

"Okay."

Brady's POV

Audrine and I ended up spending the rest of our time playing a board game that she likes. It was fun to see her smile every time she was ahead in the game. I politely let her win, finding it much more satisfying to see her smile, laugh, and victory dance than win the game myself.

Then 8:30 came and I knew I had to leave. Audrine and I's goodbye kiss took a little longer than I expected and I left her house at around 8:50. I turned my head to see the light on in Embry's room next-door. A shadow moved away from his window as I looked up. I wondered if he had been watching me leave. The thought made my hands itch and my face burn. I was annoyed, frustrated, and embarrassed. I didn't like getting all green-faced-jealous over a guy who Audrine _wanted_ to be friends with. I couldn't help but wish he'd just be less pushy, though. It didn't help that we never had shift together nowadays so I never really got a peek into his thoughts. There was no reassurance that he had no bad intentions. I knew he wouldn't dare hurt Audrine- that would just be painful for everyone. Plus, he is fond of her…hopefully in the most platonic way possible, though.

During my thoughts I had been running to meet up with Collin, at the Brentwoods' house where he is staying with his father until they can get their own place. I kinda wish he had decided to just keep staying at my house instead.

_Wow, there's a lot of people in this one house… _

The front door was open so I stood outside peering into the living room of the home. Collin's father, Zachary, and his friend (who is also the father of the Brentwood girls,) Quris, were both standing by the stairs while four of the Brentwood girls crowded around the piano, laughing about something. The three younger Brentwoods were literally _climbing up the wall_. Or, more specifically, the doorway into the kitchen. They were taking turns seeing how far up each could get. Jennifer, the mother of the girls and the woman Collin had once been imprinted on, was talking to Collin in the middle of the room. What made the scene so hectic was the dog that Collin had once bought for the family, Stacy, running around in circles, barking at everyone for no apparent reason.

Collin finally spotted me,

"Oh, Brady! Come on in." Collin walked over to me and put an arm over my shoulders, leading me into the room. I smiled friendlily at everyone as they stopped whatever they were doing to stare at me. Even the dog.

"Where are we meeting Courtney?" I asked Collin, casually ignoring the gawking.

"She should be here in a few minutes."

"Here?" Surprise was present in my voice; I hadn't thought that maybe we would be surrounded by the entire Brentwood family while we babysat.

Collin looked at me, realizing that I hadn't known where we going to be watching Alex.

"Yeah, Jack and Courtney thought it would be good if he made friends with Elise and Kathleen," Collin explained to me, pointing towards the two youngest Brentwood girls. Elise and Kathleen are twins. Elise has straight yellow-blonde hair while Kathleen has blonde tight curly hair. They both have brown eyes and light-tan skin (half-Quileute coloring.) I think they are about 7 years old, though I don't remember exactly.

Courtney's face was in the doorway a minute later, Alex holding her hand, hiding behind her shyly.

I'm pretty sure he is younger than Elise and Kathleen; at least he definitely looks it.

98"Hi, guys," Courtney smiled in greeting. She pulled Alex around in front of her and nudged him into the room. The werewolf girl stepped in after him, all the while Alex not letting go of her hand. He peered at all of us then turned around and buried his face in Courtney's legs, clearly shy.

Courtney laughed and bent down to talk to him. That's when CJ, one of new pack members (the one who is from Spain,) strolled his way into the house.

He waved hello to everyone (or "Hola," as he said) and walked right up to Aria Brentwood (the oldest girl) who had been awkwardly trying to avoid eye contact with him.

"What are you doing here?" I heard her ask him quietly and somewhat uncomfortably- as if she didn't want anyone to see her talking to him. Her sisters and parents were carefully watching from the corners of their eyes.

"I drove Courtney here," CJ explained, pointing outside where I assume his car was parked. He wasn't talking in the same, hushed voice as Aria was so the girl widened her eyes at him in warning and stepped away from her sisters.

Collin had squatted down next to Alex along with Courtney, talking some courage into the small boy. Elise and Kathleen were watching, waiting to be introduced to their new friend.

"Hi Brady," Dee smiled at me, standing with her twin sister, Ani, and her younger sister, Noelle.

I glanced over to see what was going on with CJ and Aria, but they had moved into a different room.

"Hey, Dee," I replied, amid my glancing.

"How's Audy?"

I smiled at the nickname Nessie had coined for Audrine.

"Hopefully good. I wish I was with her now." I answered.

She seemed to think I was funny,

"Spoken like a true imprinter."

Dee's eyes moved to behind me and I turned to see Courtney introducing me to Alex.

"Alexander," Courtney spoke, "This is Brady."

"Hi," I smiled, trying to not look scary to the boy.

He held out his hand for me to shake, I chuckled at his grown-up move and bent down to shake his tiny hand.

"Nice to meet you," he muttered, barely audible.

"Nice to meet you too," I nodded.

Courtney laughed,

"Okay, Alexander, you're going to have a great time, I promise. Now I'm late so I have to go but you just tell Collin or Brady if you need anything, okay?"

Alex nodded, hugging Courtney goodbye as if she were his mommy.

Courtney stood up straight and looked around the room,

"Where'd CJ go? I was going to say bye to him…"

CJ bounded up the stairs,

"I'm here!" Aria followed, shame-faced, behind him. "But first, I have to talk to Brady."

I glanced at Collin, shocked that CJ would have anything to say to _me_.

CJ walked right up- so close that it seemed as if he would tell me in a whisper. But his volume remained loud enough for everyone to hear. The heads of the adults turned to listen.

"Okay, you know Audrine?" he began, moving his hands pointlessly as he spoke, as if they would somehow help him communicate.

I blinked,

"Yes I kno-"

"Of course you know Audrine, you imprinted on her," he spoke for me, "Well, um-Embry is with her right now."

My ears burned. But part of me had expected this.

"At her house. They are going to be watching a movie together." CJ talked as if he were explaining something to me.

I started to feel my heart pounding and blood rushing rapidly through my veins. I tried to keep my expression calm, though.

CJ's eyes squinted, looking for a sign in my face that I was upset. He clearly wanted me to be.

_What would he gain from me being angry?_ I could hear his own heart pounding quickly in chest, which made me wonder if he was nervous. _Is he lying? _

"How do you know this?" I asked him, looking back at Collin again. Collin looked away, towards the other people, as if they all knew something I didn't. I felt sort of scared then.

CJ looked down (like he was disappointed or maybe to seem casual) and then pointed a finger in the direction of Aria, who was standing some ways behind him. He swung his head around to look at her as she bit her bottom lip and her face turned red with embarrassment. I knew from Embry that Aria was pretty shy. Like when Audrine and I crashed Aria and Embry's first date, she was super quiet and easily blushed.

"How do you know?" I asked her. Then I felt like an idiot. _Aria is Embry's girlfriend._ Duh.

"Em-Embry told me that he, um, would be, um, like, hanging out at her house while you were babysitting to keep her, like, company and that they'd be, um, watching a movie…I asked if I could go too but-but he said no, that it was, like, their time alone, like, just two best friends."

Aria definitely had some hurt in her voice when she said the last part. I knew that whatever Embry was doing wasn't good, and it wouldn't just because I'm a jealous fool that I would go over there and end their 'alone time.' Even if Embry wasn't hurting Audrine, he was hurting Aria. I didn't know Aria all that personally but I knew that it wasn't right of Embry to hurt her. I mean, it was pretty messed up that he unimprinted on her and now is acting like she isn't important. Maybe Audrine wasn't cheating on me, but Embry was practically cheating on Aria. I knew that if Audrine found out what Embry was doing to his girlfriend, Audrine wouldn't be okay with being a part of it.

_So, I have to go over there and fix things_._ Audrine would be upset if I didn't tell her. _

"I'm going over there," I announced, my voice a little angrier than I meant it to be. All eyes were on me as I strode towards the door.

"Brady, you promised you'd babysit with me," Collin reminded me. I knew he missed us hanging out, since now he has moved. I turned around, was distracted for a moment with CJ's victorious smile, and then told Collin,

"I'll come back. With Audrine. How's that?" Aria hung her head, casting her eyes on the ground. "Want me to bring Embry, too?" I asked her. Aria glanced at CJ (while CJ had his back to her) and while shaking her head 'no.' I shrugged and caught CJ's eye. He looked eager. I sighed,

"Want to come?" His face brightened up,

"Si."

"That's mean yes, right?" I double-checked. It's not like I've ever taken Spanish. English and Quileute is enough. He laughed and walked past me out the door. Courtney followed, saying goodbye to him before she leapt into the woods.

**Author's Note: **

**Recent studies suggest that there is a significant connection between the number of reviews a story gets and how quickly an author updates that story. To increase frequency of updates for Brady and Me, please take use of the "Review" button below. You do not need account to participate. All reviews welcome. **

**-Ria M. Write. **

**;) **


	18. I Say Darling

_Brady and Me_

Chapter 18: I Say Darling

Audrine.

A minute or two after Brady left, Embry was at my door.

When I let him in he went right to my living room and plopped down on the couch and turned on the TV.

_Hello to you too, Embry Rude Call._

What was funny was that when he passed me an unexpected smell filled my nostrils.

_Cologne._

He was wearing a shirt (which was unusual, obviously,) and he had _clearly_ showered. His hair was brushed nicely and he was wearing nice jean pants, not the cut-off shorts like all of the guys wear normally. I wondered if he would get too hot.

I didn't know why Embry would try so hard to look good for coming over my house. I wondered if he had just been with Aria.

"When did you get back from Aria's?" I asked him. Embry shrugged,

"I was only there for a few minutes. She was busy. And I needed to take a shower."

"Oh." That means that the cologne and good-looks weren't for her. "She didn't even have time to hang out with _you_?" I was surprised.

"Yeah. She was going to the beach."

"She didn't invite you, darling?"

Embry shook his head, searching through the TV channels,  
"I guess she didn't want me to go."

I felt bad for him. _Poor guy. _

We found some old movie playing on the television and we both sat on the couch, watching it. I mentioned that I was cold so Embry placed is arm over my shoulders. A small voice in the back of my head was upset that I was letting Embry be so boyfriend-like to me. But, I ignored that voice, because, darling, Embry's my best friend, so we are close. That's all there is to it. This is what I told myself, darling.

Plus, Embry has a girlfriend. Named Aria. Embry has a girlfriend named Aria and that's all there is to it. Darling.

"Want something to drink?" Embry asked me, his face close to mine as he spoke. His arm was still on my shoulders, his hand casually dangling to my right side.

"Is this not my house, darling? I should be the one asking _you_ if you would like a drink…Would you?"

Embry smiled modestly,

"I was offering to get us both one. If you don't mind."

He waited for my response with his eyes leisurely gazing towards mine.

"Sh-Sure. I mean, sure thing, it's fine, thank you, darling."

I smiled but it was in vain since he stood right up and walked away to the kitchen without glancing back at me. Once he was out of the room, I sighed, placing my head down in my hands and rubbing my eyes as if something were in them; like they itched. But they didn't.

_What's going on, darling?_ A voice (possibly my conscience) asked me in my head. Or so I thought, until I stopped rubbing my eyes and realized it had been said by the main female character in the movie on TV. I wasn't used to hearing someone else say 'darling.'

My face was crumpled as if I had a headache.

I took a deep breath and looked back up. The doorbell rang.

_My parents-?_

I stood up and looked to see if Embry had come back from the kitchen, but I guess he must have decided to hide.

I bravely marched up to the front door, my mind now scaring me with the idea of an axe-murderer or some other criminal who had found out it was just little me staying alone in my house and planned to do some robbing. Once again, I knew I was being irrational but, it's hard to stay calm when at 9:30 or so at night your doorbell rings and you weren't expecting anyone. At least, it's scary for Me.

_Scary, Scary, Scary for poor little Me._

I didn't bother with checking the window first; I probably wouldn't be able to see them anyway if they were standing very close to the door.

Worst case scenario: it is a robber and I scream and run for Embry and he takes care of it.

_But that's just the Worst case scenario, darling. Scary, scary, scary, scared Me. _

"Hey, babe."

And there stood Brady. He smiled at me, too, happy to see my face.

He craned his neck, looking further into my house. Then he took in a deep breath through his nose.

"Smells like cologne in here," he announced, sounding confused, as if that is not what he expected. "Really strong cologne," he added.

I laughed off my silly scared-ness and took his hand in mine,

"Yup. Embry drowned himself in it."

"Oh, he's dead?" Brady's voice was expressionless. If you know what I mean.

I laughed again,

"No, darling, just _drench_ed in cologne. What are you doing here? I thought you were helping Collin babysit."

"Yeah, we would like your help, too."

"You asked me earlier today, Darling…remember? I said no."

"Are you sure?" Brady looked hurt.

I felt a pang of guilt,

"I'm with Embry, it'd be rude to leave him."

"I understand. But you _would_ have fun," Brady told me, "…I promise." The last word was a whisper.

_Babysitting? Um, no. No thank you, darling._

_No. thank. you. _

_It's bad enough when I'm with Soaki. A little kid is the last thing I wanna watch. A good movie would be better. Like the one Embry and I are trying to watch. _

"Is the only reason because you don't want to be rude to Embry?" Brady asked me. I knew it was going to end up being a trick question but I said yes anyways.

"Embry," Brady called, at a normal volume. Embry walked up to us, truly expressionless.

"Do you mind if Audrine leaves to help me babysit?"

Embry shrugged,

"I guess it's okay. I mean, you are his girlfriend," Embry said to me.

Brady smiled and kissed the top of my head.

"Oh, I forgot to mention, it's at the Brentwoods," Brady made it sound like he was talking to me but he looked at Embry. I watched Embry's face turn into some sort of wide-eyed expression.

"Embry, is everything okay… Darling?" I asked, madly curious now.

Embry kept his wide-eyes on Brady,

"Oh so that's how you knew I was here," he said, "I bet 'cha she thinks she's real sly for telling."

I didn't know who he was talking about,

"Who? Embry? What's going on?" I turned to Brady.

"I told Aria I was coming here and I guess she got jealous and told Brady," Embry muttered, "There was no reason for her to do that. I can't believe…."

I furrowed my eyebrows,

"You talked to Aria?" I was surprised that Brady would be able to start a conversation with the quiet girl.

"No, with CJ. He had been talking to Aria, and she told him… and he told me."

Embry rolled his eyes,

"That new kid keeps trying to be friends with Aria. As if she needs friends."

_Doesn't everyone need friends? _Maybe he meant that she already has too many.

"Well she doesn't have much of a boy_friend_. I can't believe you told her that she couldn't hang out with you two tonight. You're a jerk, Emma."

I was surprised Brady could call him 'Emma' right now. The conversation was so serious that it seemed beyond nicknames, especially ones that are meant only as a joke.

Maybe he said it by accident.

Embry's dark eyes sent a vicious look to light brown Brady's,

"Don't tell me how to treat her. She's my girlfriend. Not yours."

"Oh really? But it doesn't look like your much of her boyfriend. I wouldn't count her as your girlfriend," Brady retorted, rolling his eyes.

I felt slightly frustrated that the conversation's subject had changed from me to Aria.

_Slightly annoyed, darling. _I was losing controlling of the two, and the conversation was getting really quite heated.

"If you feel that way, you might as well have her." Embry's face was ugly he was so angry. He stood up straighter, the small height difference between him and Brady becoming more apparent.

Brady narrowed his eyes,

"You only say that because you want my Audrine." Brady stood up straighter too, still not tall enough to beat Embry, though. I didn't know which one was actually more capable in a fight, but they seemed to think they were equal.

If I had to judge based on muscle appearance, Brady won. Not by much, but because Embry is so slender. Though I guess as far as wisdom goes, Embry is more experienced.

_And now they are talking about me like I'm not here._

_Wonderful, darling._

"She's only _yours_ if she wants to be."

Embry held out his hand to me,

"You don't have to go anywhere, Audrine. Brady won't make you. Don't let him get full of himself."

His words would sound noble, as if he were protecting me, but I knew he really meant that Brady would do whatever would make me happy, whatever I want. Because imprinted on me. It had nothing to do with Embry being noble.

Nothing. 

Brady tapped my arm gently, his fingers just brushing my skin, and I looked at him. His eyes, smoldering, stared deep into mine,

"It's up to you."

I looked down. "I love you," he added.

"So do I," Embry announced. Brady's eyes didn't leave my face but I turned in surprise to Embry,

"Darling…? You, _what_?" I didn't sound like I was in disbelief, but more like I hadn't heard him.

"I care about you. I've been here for you, as your best friend, for quite some time, as someone you can count on and talk to and _trust_, and I always will be. I am much more than just a neighbor, Audrine, you know that." The way he looked at Me suggested that we shared some sort of secret from Brady. I didn't know what he was thinking, though.

I could feel Brady's body heat close to me. His hand, tightly interlocked with mine. His eyes, boring deep holes into my face. His heart…well, his heart was, and has been, beating deep inside of mine. That's where he had left it; he had given it to me.

But Embry…Embry's heart was in his palms, his arms outstretched towards me, offering it. I knew that if I didn't take it, he wouldn't bother to hold it for himself. It would fall to the ground and shatter, like thin glass… into a million pieces.

As I thought, a figure approached the front of my house and then stopped, standing right at the edge of my lawn, looking into my house through the still-open front door.

I guess Brady and brought backup.

**A/N: Reviewing is encouraged. Thanks so much for reading =) **

**-Ria M. Write. **


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